ASCONI | Sol Negru | Merlot | 2012
merlot
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Still on Wine of Moldova and heading towards the merlot wine zone – the most underrated red grape variety. Tonight we are going to review a wine, that is quite popular among local wine enthusiasts – Sol Negru Merlot 2012 from Asconi. There’s quite some competition on the market in the merlot zone, as almost every local winemaker is producing quality merlot wine, as a result, one can find high-end merlot wine without much effort, that’s why, without further ado, let’s get directly to the review.
Let’s take a deeper look at the tasting notes and the wine’s review statistics:
Visual
The wine has a deep garnet color, quite opaque and noble, with the rim-color of a clear ruby shade.
Olfactory
The nose is clean and rich, with no clear signs of wine faults. The nose reveals a mix of red fruits and some nuanced savory notes: sour cherry, red currant, cranberry, red bell pepper, beetroot, sweet potato, wormwood, red apple and a delicate aroma of red olives.
Gustatory
The wine is dry, with no signs of residual sugar. It has moderate and well integrated alcohol level, high acidity and medium tannin. This is a green, savory and angular wine – a bit bitter, a bit tannic and a bit mouldy. The wine has a fair overall balance – it has a nuanced earthy profile with strong savory notes – in other words, this is a seedy and rustic wine, with some delicate vegetal notes.
Aftertaste
The wine has a medium finish and a balanced aftertaste. It feels dry and green, and it turns into a bitter astringency over time.
This is definitely a good 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.
Conclusion: this wine is too savory and a bit too seedy, with nuanced green tannin and high acidity. It is definitely over its prime, therefore we would not recommend to keep it any longer for bottle ageing, as it display clear signs of potential decline. The wine is too savory to round up on the palate and too green to improve on the nose. We would also like to mention that this wine was already appreciated on the international scene with a commended award by Decanter World Wine Awards and a bronze medal by International Wine & Spirit Competition – two of the leading wine-tasting competitions in the world of wine.
WineStatistics tasting results:
ASCONI
Sol Negru | Merlot | 2012
grape: | merlot |
overall rating: | 88.6 |
conclusion: good | 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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