UNICORN ESTATE | Symbioz | Private Collection | Saperavi | 2010
saperavi

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.

Tonight we are going to review a rare wine – Symbioz Private Collection Saperavi 2010 from Unicorn Estate. This is a single varietal saperavi wine, which is Georgia’s main red variety. Saperavi wines are deep in color with nuanced acidity and lots of tannin, which makes them respond well to ageing. The resulted wines are so deep in color (due to its dark flesh) that some wineries label them as black wines instead of red. Last but not least, what makes this wine special, is the fact that it was aged in oak barrels, made from local oak wood, for 36 months. Quite impressive, yet enough theory, let’s move on with the tasting and find out just how good this wine is.
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Take a look at the tasting notes bellow and our detailed assessment of the wine:

Visual
Quite deep but not very opaque ruby color, with shades of pale copper towards the rim of the glass.

Olfactory
The nose is strong, filled mostly with red fruits flavours: overripe red cherry, ripe red currant, black plum, ripe sour cherry, plum jam and blackberry. An instant later the nose is filled with notes of black and red pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, roasted oakwood, tobacco and some subtle hints of jar.

Gustatory
The wine is dry, with high alcohol level, high acidity and smooth tannin. It tastes lean and crispy, with a nuanced acrid accent – this is not exactly what one would expect from a saperavi wine, as it feels quite tart snf supple, with overwhelming acidity and spiciness. The wine has a fair overall balance, yet the barrique dominates over the fruit.

Aftertaste
It has a medium-plus finish and an balanced, tart and spicy aftertaste.
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This is definitely a great Wine of Moldova and the overall rating says the same, with 90.2 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 is a wine that has yet to reach its prime form, or one that will miss it by distance. It can age for another 2 or 3 years, but there is little reason in doing so, as the overwhelming acidity may hint that it will unlikely round up, due to the lack of antioxidants (tannin) in the body. It may sound a bit anathemic, still, the wine feels elegant and refined. It may not be a blueprint saperavi wine, yet it still has its magic. We would recommend to pair this wine with fat-rich meat dishes, like for example a skillet rib eye steak or a T-bone steak with garlic and rosemary. Enjoy!

WineStatistics tasting results:

UNICORN ESTATE
Symbioz | Private Collection | Saperavi | 2010

grape: | saperavi |

region: Moldova | Stefan-Voda

overall rating: | 90.2 |

conclusion: great | a must try

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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.