Fanagoria is a large winery based in
Sennoi, in Krasnodar Krai's Temryuk district. The name comes from
the ancient Greek settlement of Phanagoria, founded here on the
Black Sea coast in 542 BC.
Until around 200 BC, Phanagoria was a
major trade centre, and there is ample archaeological evidence of
winemaking occurring during this time. Much later, there was a
revival of winemaking in this region during the 19th century, and by
the beginning of the 20th Century, Kuban (the old name for the
Krasnodar region) was one of the key Russian winegrowing areas.
Consultant
winemaker John Worontschak in the vineyard
Fanagoria, named after Phanagoria, is now
Russia’s largest wine producer, and makes a wide range of wines,
sparkling wines and brandies. They produce 25 million bottles of
wine a year, as well as tetrapak and bag-in-box product, and are the
biggest producer of bottled wine in Russia. This year they also
launched their own cooperage.
Merlot
‘Big wineries are supposed not to make
good wine ,’ says marketing director Vladimyr Pukish, ‘but we do
our utmost to prove that this is wrong. But it is much more
difficult to make a good wine in a big winery.’ Fanagoria are
currently aiming to improve the quality of their wines by expanding
their vineyard holdings. Six years ago they had 900 hectares of
vineyard, but now this has risen to 2500 hectares. They still make
some low-end wines that are not made exclusively from Russian
grapes, but are moving away from this practice. [The wines I tasted
here were all from Russian grapes.]
Sauvignon
Blanc
Fanagoria’s history is quite
interesting. It was founded in 1957 for grape juice production. The
natural grape juice was chilled, pasteurized and bottled here. Their
natural grape juices featured heavily in the 1980 Olympics, held in
Russia.
In 1990 things all changed. The facility
decided to stop making juice and start making wine and a bit of
vodka. Then they began making Cognac too. They got the licence to
sell Cognac in 2006, and are currently the third largest Cognac
producer in Russia.
Modern presses in the winery
Old
fashioned iron tanks are still used, although these are being
replaced by stainless steel
The latitude here is 45 North, and it’s
quite risky for wine production because of the winters. Once every
3-7 years temperatures will drop to -30 °C,
and not every year is guaranteed to give a good crop.
Grape
juice of the sort that Fanagoria used to produce
John Worontschak is working here as
consultant winemaker. I visited the vineyards and cooperage with the
Fanagoria team and John, and then toured the extensive winery,
followed by a tasting. This tasting here was restricted to the two
higher-level labels, NR and Cru Lermont.
Aligote: a grape that does really
well here
Older vineyards with wide row
spacing
THE WINES
Fanagoria NR Aligote 2010
Aligote does well in this region. Half of this wine is fermented on
Chardonnay lees to add body. Rounded, very fruity with nice texture
and fresh citrus notes. Some melon fruit, too. Lively and full, this
is an attractive wine with nice texture and a hint of creaminess.
88/100
Fanagoria NR Chardonnay 2010
Rounded, fruity and appealing with just a hint of nuttiness. Fresh
and a bit nutty with nice fruit. 84/100
Fanagoria Cru Lermont Chardonnay 2010
(cask sample)
Fine, fruity and expressive with nice rounded character. Subtle
citrus fruit, a bit of grapefruit freshnes and some mineral hints.
Impressive. 88-90/100
Fanagoria NR Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé
2010
Fresh and fruity with nice acidity and sweet cherry fruit.
Attractive stuff. 82/100
Fanagoria NR Merlot 2010
Fruity, in a lighter style. Berryish with sweet cherry fruit and
some green herby notes. Nice sweet rounded fruit. Highly drinkable.
84/100
Fanagoria NR Cabernet Sauvignon 2010
Slightly minty hint to the nose which shows berryish fruit and
subtle green herbal notes. Savoury twist to the berry fruits here.
83/100
Fanagoria NR Pinot Noir 2009
Nice berry and cherry fruit here: quite fresh with some herbal notes
too. There’s a green herby edge to the attractive fruit. 84/100
Fanagoria NR Tzimylanskiy Cherniy 2009
Berryish and fresh yet also showing some evolution. Ripe, sweet,
satisfying but a little herbal. 83/100
Fanagoria NR Tzimylanskiy Cherniy 2010
Bright berry fruits here with some nice grippy structure as well as
green herbal notes. Drying finish. 83/100
Fanagoria NR Saperavi 2010
Nice bright berry fruits with a touch of herbiness. Quite delicious
with lovely fruit and good tannic structure. 88/100
Fanagoria NR Clairet (Merlot/Cabernet
Sauvignon)
Sweet, open, attractive red berry fruits to the fore. Rounded and
appealing with some structure. 84/100
Fanagoria Cru Lermont Merlot 2008
Sweet, berryish and quite mellow with rounded, sweet berry fruits
and some grippy tannins on the finish. 83/100
Fanagoria Cru Lermont Cabernet Sauvignon
2008
Warm, spicy and berryish with an almost Italian quality to it. Sweet
with some savoury, earthy notes. Rich and berryish with good
structure. Some oak influence here. 85/100
Fanagoria Cru Lermont Pinot Noir 2008
Green herbal edge to the nose is quite pronounced. Nice berry fruits
with some sweet cherry fruit on the palate but the herbal/green
character is quite strong. The wine would be much better without
this excessively green streak. 82/100
Fanagoria Cru Lermont Clairet 2009
Sweet and ripe with nice concentration. Quite lush with subtle
herbal notes. A rich, ripe style showing some evolution. 84/100
Fanagoria Cru Lermont Saperavi 2010
Powerful, vivid and intense with taut blackberry and blackcurrant
fruit. Stuctured, with a bit of new oak showing. Nice density and
presence here, with rich black fruits. 91/100
Fanagoria Riesling Ice Wine 2010
Sweet, rounded and a bit appley with some grapey notes. Not
completely pure flavours, though. 81/100
Fanagoria Saperavi Ice Wine 2010
Cherryish, sweet and rounded with some luscious fruit and jelly
characters. Nicely made. 83/100
Fanagoria NR Champagne Blanc de Noirs NV
Lovely fruity presence here. Quite lively with a bit of grip. Nice
fruitiness. 86/100