PURCARI | Negru de Purcari | Vintage | 2013
cabernet sauvignon | saperavi | rara neagra

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Tonight we are going to review a wine blend made of cabernet sauvignon, saperavi  and rara neagra grape varieties, a wine that has gained a legendary status over the years – Negru de Purcari Vintage 2013 from Purcari. Made from grapes harvested and selected by hand, produced using traditional methods and aged for 18 months in french oak, this wine is nothing less than a bottled art, where saperavi is playing the role of a violin in an orchestra, adding those velvety-leathery notes, which are sought after by the consumer, while rara neagra is the cello, bringing on the local terroir and the subtle rustic accents. Needless to say that this wine is the most famous wine of Moldova to date, but 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
Deep and noble garnet color, with shades of scarlet towards the rim of the glass.

Olfactory
The nose is strong, filled mostly with black fruits and spice: blackcurrant, black cherry, black plum, blackberry, black raspberry, black and red pepper. An instant later the nose is filled with notes of black soil dust, allspice, nutmeg, roasted oakwood, leather, tobacco and some nuanced hints of charred wood.

Gustatory
The wine is dry, with high alcohol level, high acidity and fine tannin. It tastes bold, fruity and spicy, with a nuanced new-world accent. This is a quite expressive, tannic and oaky wine, as it feels complex and structured. The wine has a good overall balance between barrique and fruit.

Aftertaste
It has a long finish and an balanced, bitter-seedy, yet velvety aftertaste.
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This is definitely a great Wine of Moldova and the overall rating says the same, with 91.5 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: despite its age, this is a quite a youthful wine, that has yet to reach its prime form, as it requires at least 2 to 3 more years of bottle ageing in order to round up. It has plenty of tannic grip on the palate, with a textured character to the mouthfeel and a touch of alcoholic warmth showing through, with some mouth-watering acidity and a lovely texture, that make this a wonderful food wine. We would recommend to pair this wine with spicy dishes or grilled meats, like for example a sweet and crispy beef with soy sauce and sesame seeds or some maple glazed lamb chops in order to enhance those mesmerizing leathery-spicy flavours in the wine. Enjoy!

WineStatistics tasting results:

PURCARI
Negru de Purcari | Vintage | 2013

grape: | cabernet sauvignon | saperavi | rara neagra |

region: Moldova | Stefan-Voda

overall rating: | 91.5 |

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.