Domaine Tatsis Goumenissa 2007 (6/750ml) 2007

Stergios and Perikles Tatsis have created a small Eden in Goumenissa, a region northeast of Naoussa. Their vineyards, which have never seen a chemical, are hidden among forests teeming with wildlife; when it’s too wet to work the vines, the brothers collect porcini mushrooms, which make for incredible matches with their wines. This 2007 is classic Goumenissa, a blend of xinomavro with a bit of negoska (as per the appellation’s regulations), fermented with ambient yeasts in old oak casks.

Its scents might bring to mind Barolo, in the notes of leather, tobacco and orange peel, but it’s darker, with hints of roses, sun-dried tomatoes and iron filings that mark it as xinomavro. It’s warmer, too, with a porcini meatiness to its mature flavors that gives it staying power long after each sip. Open it early in the evening, to sip on while you stir the mushroom risotto, and watch as the wine opens all the way through the cheese course.