Mavroudi
The Mavroudi variety owes its name to the dark, nearly black color of its berries. This dark color is also the reason why Mavroudi is used mostly in the production of dark red wines, though they remain rare. Either on its own or as part of a blend, Mavroudi is stamped with such a forceful personality that no oenophile worth his wine can remain indifferent to it.
The scarcity of the Mavroudi wines is inversely proportional to the variety’s planting. Mavroudi is encountered from one end of Greece to the other, although it is the Peloponnese and Northern Greece where it is planted most. The uncharted territory of this variety’s wines reveals a somewhat heavy aroma, a sweet and rich taste, and rather hefty tannins. It is therefore evident that some mid-term ageing is appropriate here before the wines may reach the most delightful peak of their potential.
Despite the fact that Mavroudi is still the “terra incognita” of the Greek vineyard, the quality of the variety’s wine samples are intoxicating enough to inebriate “in-the-know” oenophiles who will hasten to pour them into their glasses much in the same manner that cunning Ulysses is said to have done when he craftily offered wine from this variety to the Cyclops!
