Domaine Costa Lazaridi — Amethystos Fumé 2019

The Amethystos Fumé 2019 from Domaine Costa Lazaridi in the PGI Drama was tasted as part of a comparative tasting of Greek Sauvignon Blancs, which also included the cult-status Baron de L from Domaine de Ladoucette in Pouilly-Fumé as a reference point. Domaine Costa Lazaridi is one of those pioneering Greek estates founded by outsiders who recognized the potential of Greek viticulture and enriched it with innovative ideas. This wine, too, carries the single vineyard designation.

Unlike the also-tasted Kryovrisi 2021 from Domaine Hatzimichalis, the Amethystos Fumé is oak-aged — and presents itself as an ideal representative of this style. On the nose, it hits you with a rather forceful smokiness that quickly makes you forget about searching for fruit in the background. On the palate, vanilla dominates, which some may find too insistent, yet it gives a convincing justification for the use of oak with Sauvignon Blanc. If you're the kind of self-confessed Sauvignon Blanc skeptic who shakes their head at what is perhaps the most internationally famous Greek Sauvignon Blanc — the one from Ktima Gerovassiliou — wondering why exoticism and elegance need to be married together, then this wine might make you considerably happier. Price-wise, it still comes in well under 20 euros and equally deserves an excellent 92 points.