ET CETERA | Chardonnay | {barrel fermented} | 2012
chardonnay

WineStatistics will be evaluating wines in no particular order on no particular schedule. Just stay tuned and you will never miss one. If the wine is tasted more than once, the rating table will be updated so as to reflect all the new impressions and observations. The logic is simple – the more we taste, the more we learn.

We continue to review Wine of Moldova and we are still on the white wine theme, but this time it’s the noblest of all whites – chardonnay. In order to explore this wine style, we’ve decided to try something new, something rare, something quite special – an oaked chardonnay, and the wine that we’ve chosen is a legend alive – barrel fermented Chardonnay 2012 from Et Cetera. This wine was made in an old fashioned style – rested on lees, in small oak barrels, but, the most intriguing part here is that the barrels are made of 100% Moldovan oak wood.

Let’s take a deeper look at the tasting notes and the wine’s review statistics:

Visual
The wine has a deep and pure yellow color, with a translucent yellowish rim-color.

Olfactory
The nose is strong with no signs of wine faults. The first nose is sharp and insistent, it brings notes of sweet summer fruits: yellow apple, yellow pear, ripe quince, jasmine, lemon, pineapple and a hint of white cherry jam. The second nose bring very clear notes of malolactic fermentation: butter, almonds and cashews.

Gustatory
The wine is medium-dry, with just a hint of residual sugar, quite a high alcohol level and moderate acidity. It tastes buttery-silky, sharp and unctuous. Medium tannin level makes it taste a bit bitter and crisp, but the good overall balance makes the wine taste firm and rich, with a quite woody sensation towards the end.

Aftertaste
The wine has a long finish and a silky-velvety aftertaste, a bit sharp and bitter, with just a hint of crispness.

This is definitely a fine Wine of Moldova and the overall rating says the same, with 88.6 points scored it is right there, among the best wines we’ve tasted so far. Please click on the chart icon on the left in order to get to the wine rating page, where you can find all the wines we’ve tasted to date.

Last but not least, it is to be mentioned that we’ve been quite impressed by this wine – a classic, barrel fermented chardonnay, full-bodied, with very clear buttery notes, and, as it seems, we’re note alone in our appreciation – the previous vintage of this wine was awarded a silver medal by Decanter World Wine Awards – the world’s most influential wine-tasting competition, which says quite a lot about this wine’s quality. But, it seems that the winemaker decided not to continue with the old-fashioned barrel fermented chardonnay, instead, the new chardonnay wine will be a oaked/unoaked mix – a decision dictated by the consumer itself, who prefers fresh, crisp and fruit-forward wines.

WineStatistics tasting results:

ET CETERA
Chardonnay | {barrel fermented} | 2012

grape: | chardonnay |

region: Moldova | Stefan-Voda

overall rating: | 88.6 |

conclusion: fine | highly recommended

____________________________________________________________________________
(c) The WineStatistics ratings are based solely on our own knowledge of the world of wine and on our personal wine tastes, which may, or may not, differ from yours – the reader. There are no absolutes of right and wrong in wine appreciation.