CHÂTEAU VARTELY | Individo | Rara Neagra . Malbec . Syrah | 2014
rara neagra | malbec | syrah
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 are still on the Wine of Moldova theme and still on the new wine blend trend, where local grape varieties are blended with international varieties in order to create wines with individual character and unique characteristics. The main role is played, yet again, by the rara neagra grape variety, this is the character builder, the main vector if you want, and then there’s the two international grape varieties, malbec and syrah, which are meant to add structure and body. The wine that we are reviewing tonight is the new Rara Neagra · Malbec · Syrah 2014 from Château Vartely. It is part of the already famous ‘Individo‘ series and it replaces the Winemaker’s Selection series, that we’ve covered in full here on WineStatistics.
Let’s take a deeper look at the tasting notes and the wine’s review statistics:
Visual
The wine has a deep garnet color, it is dense but not very opaque, with the rim-color of a deep ruby shade.
Olfactory
The nose is clean and rich, with no signs of wine faults. The first nose brings very clear notes of red fruits: sour cherry, ripe red cherry, pomegranate, red currant, cranberry, black cherry and a hint of violets. The second nose is more delicate, with notes of dried cherry, nutmeg, red pepper, tobacco, a hint of leather and the elegant aroma of a medium roasted oak-wood.
Gustatory
The wine is dry, with no hints of residual sugar on the palate. It has high, but well integrated, alcohol level, high acidity and dry tannin, which makes the wine taste fresh, a bit tart, but quite complex and extracted. The wine has a fair overall balance – this is a fruit-forward wine, round, expressive and rich, with some rustic hints towards the end that can be discovered after a short aeration.
Aftertaste
The wine has a medium finish and a balanced, just a little bit bitter, aftertaste, which leaves you with a delicious, somewhere even woody, feeling.
This is definitely a fine Wine of Moldova and the overall rating says the same, with 89.4 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, we have to confess, we really enjoyed this wine – the blend is well balanced: mellow and zesty like a young rara neagra wine, dense and insistent like a good malbec wine, spicy and rich like a new-world syrah wine – a Super Tuscan of our own, or should we call it a Super Moldovan. Also to be mentioned here is that fact, that this wine has been already awarded a silver medal by Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, a bronze medal by International Wine Challenge and a commended accolade by Decanter World Wine Awards – three of the most challenging wine tasting contests, which only confirms the quality of the wines labeled ‘Made in Moldova‘.
WineStatistics tasting results:
CHÂTEAU VARTELY
Individo | Rara Neagra . Malbec . Syrah | 2014
grape: | rara neagra | malbec | syrah |
overall rating: | 89.4 |
conclusion: fine | highly recommended
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(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.
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