Greece · Naoussa

Artisans Vignerons de Naoussa

Grower cooperative farming hillside Xinomavro in northern Greece's Naoussa PDO with minimal-intervention winemaking.

The producer

Artisans Vignerons de Naoussa is a cooperative of growers in northern Greece's Naoussa region, farming Xinomavro across hillside vineyards with limestone, granite and schist soils up to 400 metres. The collective works under a minimal-intervention philosophy: estate-farmed fruit handled as lightly as possible in the cellar, bottled to reflect the Naoussa hillside rather than a winemaker's signature. The range runs from the core Skyphos Xinomavro and Skyphos Assyrtiko to The Orange Point, a skin-contact white made with native yeasts that moves well beyond Naoussa's Xinomavro-centred wines.

Known for

Hillside Xinomavro from Naoussa's limestone terrain

Notable facts

From the atlas

Artisans Vignerons de Naoussa

A cooperative of growers farming hillside Xinomavro vineyards in northern Greece's Naoussa region, working with minimal intervention to let the grape and its limestone soils carry the wine.

At A Glance

RegionMacedonia, northern Greece
AppellationNaoussa PDO
Main grapeXinomavro
Signature wineSkyphos Xinomavro
Defining featureCollective of hillside growers; minimal-intervention cellar; limestone, granite and schist soils up to 400 metres

The Producer

Artisans Vignerons de Naoussa is a cooperative of growers united around one grape: Xinomavro, the red variety that defines the Naoussa PDO in northern Greece. The members farm vineyards scattered across the hillside terrain of the Naoussa region, and the collective's working principle is to handle the fruit as little as possible in the cellar, letting the character of the grape and the ground arrive in the glass without correction.

The name signals intent. These are not négociants blending across regions; they are growers who farm their own hillside parcels and submit that fruit to shared winemaking guided by a minimal-intervention philosophy. The range is built around Xinomavro's particular combination of firm acidity, earthy red fruit, and high natural tannin.

Place

Naoussa sits in the Imathia regional unit of Macedonia, in the upland terrain where the Vermio mountains rise west of the city of Naoussa. Vineyards here climb to 400 metres above sea level, and the altitude moderates the growing season, slowing ripening enough to preserve acidity in a grape that can become extracted and coarse when harvested too ripe.

Xinomavro is the only permitted red grape for Naoussa PDO wines. That constraint gives the appellation a singular focus: every red wine made under the designation comes from this single variety, which the local hillside terrain has suited since antiquity.

Soil And Site

The vineyards sit on limestone-based soils with granite and schist subsoil. This combination provides the drainage Xinomavro needs to develop concentration without losing freshness, while the underlying granite and schist contribute a mineral backbone that carries through to the wine. At 400 metres, the nights are cool enough to maintain the grape's natural acidity, which is one of the variety's defining traits.

Story

Naoussa earned PDO status as Greece's first regional appellation in 1971, before the country's broader appellation system had taken shape. The designation fixed the region's wines to Xinomavro and to the hillside terrain around the city, establishing a legal framework that growers have worked within ever since.

Artisans Vignerons de Naoussa grew from a shared conviction among those growers that the grape is better served by less interference than more. Working as a collective allowed the members to commit to sustainable viticulture practices and minimal-intervention winemaking at a scale that individual small estates would struggle to sustain. The range reflects that shared direction: wines built from estate-farmed hillside fruit, handled lightly in the cellar, and bottled to show the Naoussa terroir rather than a winemaker's signature.

Vineyards And Cellar

The cooperative's growers farm vineyards across the hillside terrain of the Naoussa region, working under sustainable viticulture practices aimed at preserving the health and character of the limestone-based soils. The collective's approach to cellar work centres on minimal intervention: keeping the process close to the fruit and the site rather than shaping the wine through aggressive extraction or heavy oak regimes.

Xinomavro is the dominant variety across the red wines, joined by Assyrtiko for the white. The range also includes an orange wine made with extended skin contact, using white grape varieties fermented with native yeasts and minimal sulphur.

Wines

The core range is built around Xinomavro in its Naoussa PDO form, bottled as Skyphos Xinomavro. A white, Skyphos Assyrtiko, brings the Aegean island variety north into Macedonia. The Orange Point is the most unconventional bottle: an orange wine made from white grapes with extended skin contact, native yeast fermentation, and minimal sulphur, sitting well outside Naoussa's Xinomavro-centred red-wine range.

The Haggan label covers the same wines for export markets, with Haggan Xinomavro corresponding to the core red and Haggan Orange to The Orange Point.

In The Glass

The Xinomavro carries the aromatic register Naoussa is known for: dried cherry, cranberry, raspberry, and an herbal note, underscored by nutmeg and cinnamon spice. On the palate the acidity is firm, the tannins pronounced, and the finish carries the fruit into a long, savoury close. This is not a soft, fruit-forward red; Xinomavro on hillside limestone tends toward grip and length over immediate plushness.

The Orange Point reads differently from any other wine in the range. The nose opens with dried apricot, orange peel, and wild herbs with a touch of spice. On the palate, zesty tangerine and blood orange sit alongside peachy stone fruit and clove, with a touch of salinity that extends the finish. Skin contact gives the wine texture and grip without hardness.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with Haggan Xinomavro. It is the cooperative's central statement: Xinomavro from hillside Naoussa parcels, handled with minimal intervention, showing the dried cherry, cranberry, and herb character the variety delivers on limestone soils at altitude. The spice notes (nutmeg, cinnamon) come from the grape itself rather than from oak, and the firm tannins and bright acidity give the wine enough grip and length to carry the fruit across a long finish. No other Greek red variety produces quite this combination of aromatic lift and tannic grip, and this bottle stands on its own without embellishment.

Final Word

Artisans Vignerons de Naoussa is a grower collective committed to Xinomavro on its home terrain: hillside limestone vineyards in northern Greece's oldest PDO appellation, handled lightly from vine to bottle. The wines are savoury, firm, and long on the finish.

Sources

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