Nico Lazaridi – Magiko Vouno Red 2018

Lately I have had my troubles with the old flagships among Greece's Bordeaux blends. In my view, Château Carras was outstanding in the older vintages into the 1990s. I experienced the 1984 in April 2025 at 95 points and the 1997 that same month at 94. More recently, though, it has disappointed rather often, and then, at around 45 euros in Greece, it is simply too expensive. The Magiko Vouno from Nico Lazaridi also falls into this category for me. It has been a while since I had one that truly thrilled me, and this vintage was a downright serious disappointment.

The house was founded in 1987 by Nicos Lazaridis, who brought experience from Italy and Tuscany, and today it is run by Frederico and Federica Lazaridi, Federica as oenologist with training in Udine. It is not to be confused with Domaine Costa Lazaridi, a separate estate. The Magiko Vouno, the "magic mountain," is named after the Pangeon mountains opposite, has been on the market since 1990, and is a prestige wine of the house, though not the pinnacle. Above it still sits the Perpetuus line. The grapes grow in Drama in eastern Macedonia, and the estate has vineyards in Agora and Pigadia; the wine is classified as PGI Agora. As Federica Lazaridi said in an interview, up to and including 2006 the blend contained around 20 percent Merlot, which was removed at some point, and the 2018 now consists only of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc in equal parts. It has 15 percent alcohol, matured for 18 to 20 months in new barrels of French and Hungarian oak, and then spent 18 months in bottle before release.

In color it is fairly translucent, with plenty of garnet red. The nose is already quite oxidative and comes across as at least a decade older. As a red wine from the early 2000s it would actually be very appealing, with plum and spiced biscuits. On the palate the invigorating acidity is then lacking, and the tannin only flickers up briefly. In general it seems very smoothed out, could just as well be a Sangiovese, and in this respect too it recalls the Château Nico Lazaridi, which as a 2019 contained some Sangiovese and which I had in the glass at 87 points in June 2026. On the finish it is rather angular. For me this is a very long way from a good Bordeaux.

As a vintage, 2018 in Drama stands at 6.5 out of 10, just under the Drama median of 7.0, but clearly above the weak national figure of 5.0. In terms of vintage, then, a top red from Drama should not be tired after eight years, so the aged impression can hardly be down to the vintage alone. The Perpetuus from the same house, likewise a 2018, made from 60 percent Cabernet Franc and 40 percent Mavroudi, had, as of 2024, aged slowly and could just as well have been a 2020. The Magiko Vouno shows the exact opposite.

In Greece it costs around 40 euros, more than double the Château Nico Lazaridi. For me that is 89 points, and that is definitely too little for a wine in this price range.