Lerici Al Mar Nero

Lerici belongs to Beykush's Historical Series, the line the estate uses to tell the region's past, alongside its Loca Deserta red. The estate takes the name from a 14th century Genoese fortress on the territory of what is now Ochakiv, a short way from the winery, and presents the grape as part of the same thread: Timorasso is Piedmontese, and the Genoese, by the estate's account, were among the first Europeans to establish themselves on this coast. Beykush also describes the variety as exceptionally rare and enjoying a revival even in its Italian homeland, and calls itself one of very few producers working with it outside Italy. The wine was previously released under the name "Fantasy".

The estate's own account runs from vineyard to barrel: fruit from the Ochakiv and estuary-adjacent macrozone of the Northern Black Sea, on the flat watershed plateau between the Buzky and Berezan limans, dark-chestnut loamy soils; hand-picked at the beginning of October at full ripeness; a 12 hour cold maceration at 4 C; pressing; fermentation in stainless steel at a controlled 17 C; racking off the gross lees; four months on fine lees with regular batonnage; then 15 months in French oak. The Ukrainian back label puts the cellar work more simply - the must is settled, slowly fermented in stainless steel at low temperatures, then aged in French oak barrels for a year. The two accounts do not agree on the time in oak, and the bottle's own dates favour the shorter one: an early October 2023 harvest plus four months on lees and fifteen in barrel would run past the production date printed on the label, 15 April 2025.

Dry, single varietal, 13.8% on both faces of the label, while the estate's listing says 13.5%. The back label carries the Ukrainian DSTU category - ordinary aged dry white table wine - and no geographical indication.