CRAMA OPRISOR | Smerenie | 2015
syrah | pinot noir | dornfelder

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 marvelous wine, one that we were trying to get for such a long time and, at long last, here it is – Smerenie 2015 from Crama Oprisor. This wine is a blend of syrah, pinot noir and dornfelder and is part of ‘The inmost Oltenia‘ wine collection, which covers region’s most famous myths and legends and, naturally, the famous local terrior of Muntenia & Oltenia wine region. This is one of those rare wines that has a deep story behind the bottle, as it is a tribute to the undying spirit and the unwavering faith, namely, a dedication to the meekness of the soul – not that of defeated ones but rather of that, whose soul and will fusioned into the ultimate spiritual harmony. In fact, this is the first wine of Romania which was conceived backwards: from the name to the blend itself, but enough theory, let’s move on to the tasting!
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Take a look at the tasting notes below and our detailed assessment of the wine:

Visual
Deeb and noble garnet color, with shades of deep ruby and bright purple towards the rim of the glass.

Olfactory
The nose is strong, filled mostly with black fruits and spice: black plum, blackcurrant, black raspberry, ripe black cherry, black mulberry, dried black cherry, overripe blackberry, nutmeg and cinnamon. An instant later the nose is filled with notes of red and black pepper, sweet wood, black tea, tobacco and some subtle hints of smoke.

Gustatory
The wine is dry, with high alcohol level, high acidity and ripe tannin. It feels bold, oaky and elegant, with a nuanced new-world accent. This is a quite firm, spicy and seedy-tart wine, as it tastes astringent, extracted and angular. The wine has a good overall balance, with plenty of jammy hints and young-tannic accents.

Aftertaste
It has a long finish and a balanced, maybe just a bit crisp and angular aftertaste.
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This is definitely a great Wine of Romania and the overall rating says the same, with 91.9 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 is quite close to its prime form – clearly on the rise, as it still feels young and tart – one that will reach the summit in the next 3 to 5 years. What makes this wine special is the blend itself, where syrah acts as the backbone of the whole blend, bringing on all the tannins and spiciness, while pinot noir and dornfelder are the satellites varieties, adding elegance and color to the final blend. Due to its austerity and angularity, we would recommend to allow the wine a bit more rest in the bottle, yet, if you are eager to taste it now, just make sure you pair this wine with spicy and fat-rich meaty dishes, like for example a grilled t-bone steak with pepper mix or a rosemary and blue cheese skillet steak, as we believe that all the angularity in the wine will be perfectly complemented by the smooth spiciness of the dish. Noroc!

WineStatistics tasting results:

CRAMA OPRISOR
Smerenie | 2015

grape: | syrah | pinot noir | dornfelder |

region: Romania | Muntenia & Oltenia

overall rating: | 91.9 |

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.