Highlights: Lefkadia Reserve 2013, Russia
It’s been quite a while since I visited Russia’s Krasnodar wine region. While I was in Moscow for the Simple Congress, I was given this wine to try. These are the details I was sent about it:
It is a 18% Cabernet Franc, 15% Petit Verdot, 20% Syrah, 29% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Krasnostop blend. It spent 18 months in 94% French oak (56% new) and 6% old Russian oak. It has an alcohol level of 14,8 with 1,5 residual sugar and 3,7 acidity. It is our fourth release for this wine. Every Lefkadia Reserve blend changes considerably but we try to keep in the spirit of a ‘Bordeaux blend with spices’. Patrick Leon made the blend until 2017. 2013 is also the last year we used Krasnostop in the blend.
Mikhail Nikolaev, Lefkadia Valley Wines
Lefkadia Reserve Red 2013 Krasnodar, Russia
14% alcohol. This is an impressive blend of Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Syrah and Merlot, with a bit of local grape Krasnostop. It’s ripe and expansive, but with lovely autumnal hints of dried leaves and warm herbs adding to the sleek black cherry and blackcurrant fruit. Ripe but in balance with some nice fruit sweetness, adding a sleek gloss, but supported with savoury, spicy, gravelly detail. The oak takes a back seat here, with some subtle tar and cedar hints on the finish. Drinking very well now but should age gracefully over the next five years. 92/100
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