Negoska Tales: The Rise of a Rare Grape

In the hills below Mt. Paiko, in a quiet corner of Macedonia, there’s a really fine town for wine. Goumenissa has a lot going for it: sunny days with cool nights in summer that let the grapes rest; clay-rich soil; and slopes caressed by gentle breezes. There’s a long tradition of winegrowing here, reinforced by the arrival of Greeks from Eastern Rumelia with their own strong winemaking heritage. Their Feast of St. Tryphon, patron saint of the vine, is a highlight of the cultural and religious calendar. Tradition is also central to the PDO; the regulations set forth by the Department of Agriculture require that the grapes be tended in a certain way prior to harvest.

The other thing central to the PDO is the local grape Negoska, a relatively rare variety that makes up perhaps a little more than a tenth of the total grapes grown in the area. Nonetheless, it’s notable. Negoska has long had its admirers, including the many French soldiers posted here in WWI, honored in the inscription on the fountain in Goumenissa’s main square that reads “Passager, souviens-toi le soldat français.” With its deep color, higher alcohol content, and softer tannins, Negoska is said to have been the soldiers’ favorite.

Two Tales Entwined

Xinomavro and Negoska share a story, even though the former is well known, starring in the PDOs of Naoussa, Amyntaio, Rapsani and Goumenissa, while the latter features only in Goumenissa’s PDO zone, the smallest of the four. Some believe that before the names “Xinomavro” and “Negoska” took hold, they were both referred to as “Popolka.” According to this theory, Xinomavro was Xini (“Sour”) Popolka, while Negoska was Glykia (“Sweet”) Popolka, reflecting how the grapes taste when eaten straight from the vine. This is not a certainty, however, and nor is the origin of  the modern name for the grape.

Although Negoska is exclusive to Goumennissa’s PDO zone, many say it’s named after Naoussa, which was once known as “Nea Augusta” – “Negusha” to their Slavic neighbors. (If so, that means the grape took off in Goumenissa but faded into obscurity in its native town.) Periklis Tatsis suggests another possibility: “Some men of my grandfather’s generation were at the winery having tsipouro and meze, and reminiscing, telling stories they had heard as kids about the days before the first world war, before the phylloxera, when brokers from France would come to buy wine in bulk. They called these brokers ‘Negotia,’ a Greek version of the French word ‘négociateur.’ With its deep color and softer tannins, Glykia Popolka was their favorite. They paid a premium to have it vinted separately: Negoska, the choice of the Negotia.”

A Grape with a Big Personality

Besides once sharing the name Popolka, the two varieties share complexity and durability, as both age well. Periklis Tatsis describes Negoska as a sibling of Xinomavro. But that deep shade of ruby sets it apart; Xinomavro, despite its name meaning “Sour black,” is not rich in color. They’re siblings in taste, too, but while the classic Xinomavro profile has notes of tomato, olive and chocolate, Negoska presents a lot like it looks: full of ripe red fruits such as black cherries and berries. Its lower acidity poses a challenge; it needs finessing to bring out its liveliness. On the other hand, its very workable tannins are a plus. Tatsis describes Negoska’s tannins as “rounder,” illustrating the tannins in Xinomavro with a sharp peak (in The Wines of Greece, Konstantinos Lazarakis MW describes the tannins in Xinomavro as “angular”), and, for comparison, Merlot’s with a gentle curve. (Of course, flavor characteristics are subjective, so you won’t know what you think until you try the wine yourself).

Besides the PDO wines, many other Goumenissa reds include Negoska. With its thick, polyphenol-rich skin, it has much to contribute. The depth of color, pleasing red fruits and plentiful tannins are all easily distinguished in the glass, especially when comparing wines; a Goumenissa PDO (Xinomavro blended with a minimum of 20% Negoska) is generally rounder than a Naoussa PDO (100% Xinomavro). Negoska’s lower acidity and tannins make it a fine complement to Xinomavro. “It has a big personality,” says Tatsis.

Challenging and Charming

The brothers Stergios and Periklis Tatsis felt the grape could stand on its own and produced their first single-varietal Negoska in 2007. Ten years later, they made Old Roots Negoska, using grapes exclusively from vines that were 70 to 100 years old. Vasilis Tsaktsarlis of Mikro Ktima Titos makes an elegant 100% Negoska rosé, whose notes of red fruits are complemented by floral aromas. Ktima Aidarini has a single varietal, unfiltered, wild ferment Negoska from the 2017 vintage (bottled three years later) called Si-La-Vie, which complements their Si-La-Vie Xinomavro. In 2018, Chatzivariti Estate introduced two single-variety Negoska reds.

According to Chloi Chatzivariti, “you have this strong tannic level, but you don’t have the freshness of the acidity that can balance the effect of the tannins, the astringency.” As a result, she dealt with the grape’s characteristics in two ways: she blended a rosé from grapes harvested early to retain some acidity with a red wine made from later harvest grapes for the wild fermented, unfiltered Spin; for her Negoska Carbonic, she employed anaerobic maceration to bring forth red fruit aromas such as sun-dried strawberries, as well as notes of warm spices.

It’s an agreeable grape in the vineyard. Oenologist Maria Tatsis, raised among these vines, tells us why: “Negoska is fragile at the flowering stage, very sensitive to rain, but sturdy after that and resistant to most diseases. Shoot thinning and leaf removal are both quick work, and the comparatively large bunches make for an easy harvest. The grapes are loose in the bunch, so they’re all at a similar stage of ripeness. Moreover, because there’s less fruit, the vine can offer more concentrated nourishment, resulting in excellent flavor and character.”

Maria opens a bottle of their 2017 Negoska and swirls it in the glass before having a look. Its legs – poetically known as “tears” in Greek – indicate the alcohol content; at 13.5%, it hits the nose with the aroma of red fruits. She mentions how well the wine works with food, holding up to rich meat dishes and cheeses. It also works nicely on its own, opening up considerably after 20 minutes or so. The tannins soften, revealing its complexity. The finish is pleasing and long. The grape has many fine qualities. “But it’s more than that,” says Maria. “Negoska is central to Goumenissa’s unique identity.”

Ruby Red Future

With each of the wineries that makes a PDO Goumenissa offering a single varietal Negoska – or sometimes more – coming across a bottle these days is easier than ever. Goumenissa’s wine community is increasingly interested in giving voice to its signature grape. “This will be a focus for me; Negoska is our future,” says oenologist Fotini Aidarini, of the new generation at Ktima Aidarini. “It’s what makes us special, all of us in Goumenissa, together.”