Ktima Kir-Yianni – Cuvée Villages 2022

The Cuvée Villages is the entry-level wine in Kir-Yianni's Naoussa range, a single-varietal Xinomavro from PDO Naoussa and not a single-vineyard wine. The plural in the name is telling, as the grapes come from younger estate parcels and from small growers in various villages within the zone. The line is young, its first vintage was 2017, and it has a family origin. At its launch, Stellios Boutaris recounted that Naoussa was part of the Sunday family table of his childhood, and that this wine was meant to reconnect with that while at the same time reaching younger drinkers. In 2022 harvesting began at the end of September, followed by six days of cold maceration, fermentation in stainless steel and malolactic fermentation in wood, then around a year in wood, mostly French oak, and a further year of bottle ageing in the cellar before release. 14 percent.

I had the wine in my glass at a games evening in late September 2026, blind, together with two other wines from the estate, the Diaporos 2020 and the Ramnista 2021. I had mixed up all three bottles beforehand and packed them in bags. As glass 2, it was immediately the youngest of the three for me, and the fact that it had to be the Cuvée Villages followed of its own accord from the selection.

As a vintage, 2022 was good for red Naoussa, 8 out of 10 in my vintage database and thus well above the long-standing Greek median of 6.5. So the fact that the 2022 falls short of what the wine is capable of cannot be blamed on the year.

In colour it was noticeably less opaque than the other two, with violet reflections, on the nose a broader spectrum of berry fruit and less of the typical Xinomavro tomato character, yet still recognisable as Xinomavro, along with a hint of blackcurrant, a touch of cassis. That actually promised an interesting wine. On the palate, however, it came across as unresolved and awkward, the acidity not well integrated and too jumpy, and vegetal and awkward on the finish as well.

That disappointed me somewhat, as I remembered the Cuvée Villages 2019 as being far better. At the Xinomavro Masterclass 2024 it reached 90 points and there even edged just ahead of the higher-positioned Ramnista 2019 (88). The 2022 does not reach those heights. The wine can do more than it showed in the 2022 vintage.

The Decanter World Wine Awards gave the 2022 gold and 95 points in 2025 – for me that does not fit at all. Closer to my impression are Simos Georgopoulos, who awarded it 8 out of 10 in the FNL Guide, and the 16.5 out of 20 from Jancis Robinson.

In Greece the wine costs around 12 euros. For me it is 89 points.