ET CETERA | Cuvée Blanc | 2015
sauvignon blanc | pinot blanc | chardonnay

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 very rare white wine blend – Cuvée Blanc 2015 by Et Cetera. This is the successor of the famous Cuvee Blanc 2014 wine and, as is the norm for this class of wines, it has been produced in a very limited edition of only 2586 bottles. This wine is a blend made of sauvignon blanc, pinot blanc and chardonnay varieties that have been fermented for 6 months in french oak barrels prior to bottling. What does that mean, is that the wine went through the malolactic fermentation, a process where the crisp, malic acid in the wine is converted to a more softer, lactic acid, thus, the wine becomes less tart and more silky. But enough theory, let’s get straight to the tasting!
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Take a look at the tasting notes below and our detailed assessment of the wine:

Visual
Pale topaz-yellow color with straw-yellow hues towards the rim of the glass.

Olfactory
The nose is strong, filled mostly with citrus and sweet fruits flavours: lemon, gooseberry, yellow mirabelle, quince, yellow apple, yellow pear, oakwood, pineapple, wheat, moist wood, yeast, fermented cheese and some nuanced hints of fresh baked bread.

Gustatory
The wine is medium-dry, with moderate alcohol level, high acidity and ripe tannin. This is a crisp, woody and quite herbal wine with a nuanced citrusy-yesty profile. It tastes tart, green and a bit sharp, with a fair overall balance and an firm, oaky mouthfeel due to its nuanced acidity and woody tannins. The wine is lean and supple and it does display signs of complexity, yet it feels angular and sharp towards the end of the palate.

Aftertaste
It has a medium-plus finish and a balanced, bitter-tart aftertaste.
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This is definitely a fine 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 fine wine blend on the summit of its prime form – quite balanced and elegant, with a nuanced, green angularity, which, in fact, is a common characteristic for barrel fermented white wines. Despite it’s angularity, the wine displays signs of good ageing potential, therefore we would recommend to give it some time to round up in the bottle (12 to 15 months would be fine). In order to smoothen its sharp edges, we would suggest to pair this wine with fat-rich creamy dishes, like for example a crab  and parmesan stuffed salmon or some crab, lemon and chilli tagliatelle. Enjoy!

WineStatistics tasting results:

ET CETERA
Cuvée Blanc 2015

grape: | sauvignon blanc | pinot blanc | chardonnay |

region: Moldova | Stefan-Voda

overall rating: | 90.2 |

maturity: in its prime

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.