Noble wine indeed
The winery of Nico Lazaridis has stuck to its goal of producing wine that competes well in the international arena
Nico Lazaridis founded his winery on the outskirts of the village of Agora, just a few kilometers east of Drama in 1987. The venture was one of Greece’s most ambitious winery concepts of the decade andit greatly contributed to a more favourable perception of Greek wines abroad in addition to forever altering the division of wine sub-regions in Makedonia. Although the area had a rich history of winemaking dating to ancient times and is close to the wellspring of the Dionysus cult, the intervening Ottomans had all but erased commercial winemaking in the region. The framers of Greek appellations, with no reason to do otherwise, made no mention whatsoever of the region when penning the laws in the early 1970s. Chateau Lazaridi changed that.
From the start, Lazaridis has been aided in the management of his company by his son Frederico, and winemaker Bakis Tsalkos. Tsalkos studied at Montpellier and cut his teeth for three years in St. Emilion before returning to Greece. This team has remained steadfast, even as the number of competing local wineries nearby – including an offshoot begun by Nicos’ brother Kostas – has gradually increased over the more than two decades since the operation first begun. This consistency is reflected in the perennially high quality of the company’s products and has led to carefully managed growth. While producers – even some newer producers – in the same segment have set and achieved production goals in excess of one million bottles per year, Lazaridis, whose company has augmented its holdings to include properties in nearby Kavala and on the island of Mykonos, has kept production to about 600,000 bottles per annum.
The team has stuck to its original goals; cultivating noble varieties in Drama’s continental microclimate and blending them, when appropriate, with suitable indigenous cultivars. This philosophy was rooted in a desire to produce wines that could compete in the international arena while pushing innovation in Greece’s increasingly sophisticated market.
Under the careful management of Frederico Lazaridi, vineyard locations and orientations were carefully determined by a team of Greek and Italian consultants, not only for their suitability for wine production but also for the lack of susceptibility to Drama’s temperamental weather.
The company’s 125 acres of vines in the villages of Agora, Adriani and Pigadia are supplemented by 25 acres under contract with local growers. Plantings of red grapes consist of Cabernet, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and the ancient indigenous Limnio. White varieties consist of Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Ugni Blanc and the indigenous Roditis.
The local soil features both loam and limestone, which, in combination with a warm growing season, yields distinctive, ripe fruit. The winery itself rests atop a bluff that overlooks Agora and Adriani. Designed by local architect Yiannis Matsinis, its distinctive swallow-tail shape combines thoughtful aesthetics with practical agricultural design. Despite its large size, it is a subtle presence in the environment, perched unassumingly like an afterthought on the gentle horizon at the edge of Drama’s easternmost reach. Chateau Lazaridi may be the first Greek winery to have featured the works of local artists on its labels, a practice now common among Greece’s wine producers. The originals are displayed in a gallery at the winery.
Wines of the week
2004 Nico Lazaridi Semillon-Sauvignon, Regional Pangeon, Alcohol Volume 12 %
This wine blends Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc – the classic Bordeaux blend. Bright green-yellow colour with a pungent nose, powerful herbal, nettly character. Deeply herbaceous with some lychee fruit showing through. Particularly sweet fruit on the palate, and maybe some residual sugar, certainly plenty of glycerine, and power. Served at 10?C with refreshing seafood, richly sauce fish and spicy pork dishes.
2003 Chateau Nico Lazaridi Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Limnio Alcohol Volume 13%
Following the classical red vinification method these four red grape varieties are subsequently kept in French oak barrels for 12 months. A deep ruby red wine, intense nose of exotic fruit and spices, blackcurrant and cherry pie, capsicum, ground pepper and tobacco. Noble tannins on a rich palate, a full-bodied wine with a sophisticated blend of black cherries, plums and pepper. Long aftertaste. Drink now at 18?-20?C with full flavoured roast red meat and spicy beef salad.
Imported and distributed by Cava Protasis.
