Agiorgitiko

Agiorgitiko is the most planted red grape in Greece and it belongs to Nemea, in the north east of the Peloponnese. The name means Saint George's grape, after the village of Agios Georgios. The wine has been called the blood of Hercules since antiquity, on the strength of a legend that ties the site to the killing of the Nemean lion.

Nemea rises from about two hundred and fifty metres to more than eight hundred, and the altitude does most of the work. Low vineyards give soft, ripe, jammy wine for early drinking. The high ones give a firmer wine with better acidity and the structure to age. This spread is wide enough that growers have long argued for splitting the appellation into subzones.

The grape is naturally low in acid and deeply coloured, with soft, fine tannin and aromas of red plum, sour cherry, sweet spice and dried herbs. It takes oak comfortably. It is versatile enough to be made as a rose, a light young red, and a serious oak-aged wine, and it also appears in blends with cabernet sauvignon on the mainland.