26 September 2008

NV Calliga Rubis

This Greek wine is inscribed with a quote from Homer: "The flame of wit is lit deep in a bottle." I'm not sure what the joke is with this completely asymmetrical bottle. It looks like it got left out in the sun too long. There's a couple of finger grooves in the back but I couldn't figure out any sort of ergonomic pouring advantage.

Ugliness aside the NV Calliga Rubis is from Cephalonia in the Ionian Sea. $10, 12.5% abv. It's made from unoaked Αγιωργίτικο (St. George) grapes and is part of the Kourtakis family of wines. "Calliga Rubis" translates as something like "beautiful red". Etymology tip for the day: any Greek word or name with a prefix of Calli- or Kalli- means beautiful, such as that great Scrabble word callipygian, from the Greek kαλλίπυγος meaning "having beautiful, well-proportioned buttocks". Sir Mixalot approves.

Turning attention away from the ladies, this wine has a dried currant aroma with a flavor of cranberries and honey. Light tannins and very light overall mouthfeel. Very restrained. I enjoyed this with a takeout gyro from a local vendor up in Cleveland.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

We used to drink this wine in Greece when we visited there. I HAVE tried to find it in the USA and found out that NESTOR IMPORTS is the importer and a business in Denver sells it in Colorado, but still can't find out how to get access to this wonderful wine... LOVE IT!! But the bottle sure is weird now!!