Grape Varietal: Agiorgitiko (ΑΓΙΩΡΓΗΤΙΚΟ)
Vintage: 2008
Country: Greece
Region: Peloponnese
Producer: Cooperative Winery of Nemea
Price: $8.99
Place of Purchase: Vintage Wines, Harrisonburg, VA
Additional facts:
Yep, I'm using Greek letters! Fancy, fancy! :) In case something became distorted on the techno side of things, this is called an Anglicized version of the original Greek (letter eta-rho-alpha-kappa-lambda-eta-sigma).
The grape is also known as Mavro Nemeas or St. George. The grape is native to Greece (so I'm not sure why it's called St. George, the patron saint of England and Edmund Spenser, but oh well!), and the wines can range from rose to oak aged red; it's commonly blended with Cabernet Sauvignon.
This wine, though, is not a blend--and we have had it a couple of times. Adam and I wanted to bring a few bottles of wine to Nashville for Thanksgiving. My aunt Carol, my parents, my three cousins (Kevin, Martin, and Matt), and Adam and I celebrated Thanksgiving together at my aunt's house, and we had a wonderful time. However, before we left Harrisonburg, Adam and I went to Vintage Wines to get some bottles of wine. The owner was incredibly helpful, and suggested some delicious whites--but we also wanted to throw in a red (our favorite type of wine), and the owner suggested this bottle. It was juicy, delicious, paired nicely with turkey/stuffing/potatoes/typical Thanksgiving fare, and was a surprising hit. Plus my cousin Matt, who studies Greek, tried his hand at translating the Greek label. :)
We got another bottle a few months later because we wanted to include it in our wine blog. The things we do for wine....
Characteristics of Hercules (ΗΡΑΚΛΗΣ)
Appearance:very thin, very red...almost a watered down look to it
Bouquet: very sharp sweetness, almost ethanol-like; sort of seemed like a sweet, wild cherry scent to it
Adam's Overall Thoughts: Definitely has a better taste than aroma. There's a surprising smoothness to the wine, with a touch of spice (coffee-like maybe?) left at the top of my mouth on the finish. It's not a very full taste, though it doesn't quickly exit.
Cathy's Overall Thoughts: This is a case of it tastes better than it looks and smells for me. When it enters the mouth, there's a tangy richness. The wine almost seems to jump to the roof of the mouth (are there tastebuds up there?) and it draws attention to itself. This isn't a delicate flower of a wine, but I think I loved how it surprised and shocked me with its boldness despite it's watery, rather basic appearance. It was seductively sassy.
On my scale, it's a 9.19.
We paired with: pasta dishes and just sipping wine
We recommend this: with Thanksgiving dinners,with pasta dishes, and just to enjoy sipping after a long day of work
Cheers!
