Why it matters
The producer
In 1879, Ioannis Boutaris set up a cellar in Naoussa, a town in the hills of Macedonia in northern Greece, with the intention of making and trading quality red wine from the local Xinomavro grape. At the time, Xinomavro had nearly disappeared from the vineyards around the town. Boutaris backed the variety anyway. Twenty-seven years later, in 1906, the family produced and bottled Naoussa Boutari, among the first Greek red wines sold in bottled form on the domestic market.
The estate has grown far beyond that single cellar. Boutari now operates across several of Greece's key winemaking regions, producing red and white wines from varieties that include Xinomavro in Naoussa and Goumenissa, Agiorgitiko in Nemea, and Moschofilero in Mantinia. Konstantinos Boutaris, grandson of the founder, leads the family business today.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Naoussa sits in Macedonia, in the northern Greek interior, where Xinomavro ripens slowly in a continental climate cooled by altitude and mountain air from the Vermio range. The grape needs this slower growing season: it holds high acidity and builds firm tannin, and without the cooler temperatures it would lose the freshness that keeps those qualities balanced.
The wider portfolio takes Boutari into different terrain. Nemea, in the Peloponnese, is Agiorgitiko country, with a warmer, more southerly character. Mantinia sits on a high plateau in Arcadia, where the elevation keeps Moschofilero cool and aromatic. Each region produces a distinct wine, and Boutari's estates are spread to match that variety.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
At Naoussa, the Xinomavro is sourced from vines averaging 30 to 50 years old. Extraction is handled gently: the grapes undergo a maceration of 7 to 10 days with minimal intervention, and no pressing takes place. The wine runs free from the skins without mechanical force. After fermentation, the wine is aged for 12 months in older French oak barrels, fifth and sixth use, which contribute very little new oak flavour but allow slow oxidation and the gradual softening of tannin. The wine carries firm grip and body without the overlay of heavy oak seasoning.
The French estate, Domaine de Mayrac, operates under organic cultivation, a farming approach that contrasts with the largely conventional viticulture of the Greek estates. Each regional site within the portfolio is managed as its own unit, adapted to the grape and climate of its appellation.
Wines to know
The range in view
Naoussa Boutari is the centrepiece of the range, built on 100% Xinomavro from old vines in the northern Greek hills. Xinomavro gives deep colour that fades toward garnet with age, firm acid that holds across decades, and a tannin profile closer to the northern Italian reds than to the softer grape varieties of the southern Mediterranean. The wine is made for the table and for time.
Nemea Boutari draws on Agiorgitiko, a grape that produces richer, darker red fruit with softer tannin than Xinomavro, making it more approachable in its early years. Moschofilero Boutari comes from Mantinia, a high-altitude PDO appellation in Arcadia where the grape produces dry, aromatic white wine with floral notes and lively acidity. The range also includes a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Chardonnay, wines without a PDO designation that show the pan-Hellenic breadth of the portfolio.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Naoussa Boutari is the first bottle to choose. It is 100% Xinomavro from Naoussa, fermented with minimal intervention and aged 12 months in older French oak. The wine opens with dried herb, red fruit and that particular savoury note of Xinomavro; the palate brings firm tannin, high acidity and a full body that wants a plate of food beside it. Pour it young with something rich, or hold it: the acidity will keep it moving for years, and the tannin softens into something more integrated without losing its grip.