• Aghiorgitiko
• Cabernet Sauvignon
• Greece

Review Date:	11/21/2007
Price Range**:	$$
Winery:	Domaine Skouras
Vintage:	2003
Varieties:	Aghiorgitiko, Cabernet Sauvignon
Country:	Greece
Region:	Peloponissos
Appellation:
Rating:	7/10
Notes: Deep red fruit with black berry flavors plenty of smokiness.
** $ - approx $10 or less $$ - approx $25 or less $$$ - approx $50 or less $$$$ - approx $100 or less $$$$$ - more than $100

• Aghiorgitiko
• Greece

So eating at our favorite restaurant, with Mediterranean/Greek influences, the staff and owners love to rave about Greek wines while we remain somewhat skeptical.  Frankly, there are just quite a lot of weird wines out there that are genuinely subpar or just plain funky, too funky for us to really get into.

Half-priced wine night allows us to be more adventurous, especially because there's not much left on the wine list that hasn't made it here yet.  We started with an absolutely incredible bottle of Fiddehead Fiddlestix 728 pinot noir.  We were wowed by this pinot and would suggest that it most reminds us of the fantastic Belle Glos pinot noir from California, but it has a bit more spice on the finish as well as a hint of smoke and some coffee.

So on the suggestion of the staff we opted for a second bottle, a dry red Greek wine made with the distinctly Greek grape known as St. George or Aghiorgitiko.  It's most commonly compared to merlot and it seemed to follow the pinot noir rather well and shared some of the characteristics.  We have been to the local Greek festival and tried some absolutely mediocre wines, but this particular wine was definitely a standout and did well to represent the Greek wine industry.  We recommend this one highly and would consider trying other Greek wines from this maker or from this region.

Wine maker's notes:

Type of Wine: Dry Red
Varietal composition: Aghiorgitiko (St. George) (*)
Category: Appellation of Origin Nemea Of  High Quality
Alcohol by Volume: 12.2% Vol.
Volatile Acidity: 0.46 gr./lt. (as acetic acid)
Total Acidity: 5.4 gr./lt. (as tartaric acid)
PH: 3.5
Reducing Sugar: 1.2 gr./lt.
Total Sulphur Dioxide: 55 mg/lt.
Free Sulphur Dioxide: 24 mg/lt.
Vinification: Classic red wine vinification, stemmer crusher, 10 days skin contact, low pressure alcoholic and malolactic fermentation, ageing in used Alliers barrels for 12 months, followed by a 6 months bottle ageing.
Organoleptic Analysis: Deep red color, hints of sweet oak on the nose. Rich damson, mid palate. Hard-edged tannins, frank and intense. 

• Aghiorgitiko
• Greece

Review Date:	07/31/2007
Price Range**:	$$$
Winery:	Skouras
Vintage:	2005
Varieties:	Aghiorgitiko
Country:	Greece
Region:	Peloponnese
Appellation:	Nemea
Rating:	8/10
Notes: Deep red color, hints of sweet oak on the nose. Rich damson, mid palate. Hard-edged tannins, frank and intense. - Skouraswines.com
** $ - approx $10 or less $$ - approx $25 or less $$$ - approx $50 or less $$$$ - approx $100 or less $$$$$ - more than $100