Amethystos Red 2015 and 2018 from Domaine Costa Lazaridi

The red Amethystos from Domaine Costa Lazaridi (here you'll find the feature on the company) quickly became, under oenologist Vassilis Tsaktsarlis, one of the most popular "Bordeaux" cuvées in Greece ("CMA") following the split between the two Lazaridis brothers in 1992, with Cabernet Sauvignon at 70% clearly dominating Merlot at just 20% here. On top of that comes 10% Agiorgitiko.

On the nose, the 2018 vintage still shows enormous fruit, above all blackberry. Alongside that comes a very pronounced vanilla note, which can come across as overpowering if you're not a fan of this style. On the palate, the tannins dominate, immediately coating the front of the mouth in particular. The 14.5% alcohol, too, is clearly perceptible.

It's certainly a wine that shows the characteristics typical of Michel Rolland – who now consults for the estate. Strikingly, though, no Bordeaux-style wine made it into the top 50 at the very high-calibre "50 Great Greek Wines" tasting. Terry Kandylis recently noted this too, and floated over-extraction as a possible cause.

And indeed, this wine has so much fruit and vanilla that you really have to let it stand for at least a day before you dare approach it. (Though to be fair, that "you" here of course only applies to wine drinkers who aren't specifically after such intense wines.) After that, though, as a food companion it's really not nearly so jammy any more, and so is also worth a very good 16 points.

What a surprise, though, when we went back three years further and opened the 2015, which we happened to have spotted on the shelf of a German supermarket (!). A wonderfully clear, vibrant fruit. Gorgeous sea buckthorn berry! The vanilla has retreated entirely into the background and is now only perceptible as a sweetish note. The fruit in the mouth now leans more toward strawberry. Earthy notes aren't detectable at all yet. On the palate, the now much softer tannins now make themselves felt more toward the back of the mouth. That the vintage has "only" 14% alcohol presumably also does it good. A wine that's now exactly at drinking maturity and deserves outstanding 17 points.

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More on the winery: see here.

How we rate: see here.

On partnerships: see here (in German).