MINIS TERRIOS | Rosu Imparat | 2015
feteasca neagra | rara neagra | cabernet sauvignon

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.

The wine we are going to review tonight is a bit special – Rosu Imparat 2015 by Minis Terrios. This is the winemaker’s first wine blend, made of two indigenous grape varieties – feteasca neagra and rara neagra, enchanted with a bit of cabernet sauvignon in order to get more structure and complexity. All three varieties were vinified and aged in oak barrels individually, with different ageing times: cabernet sauvignon was aged for 20 months, part of the feteasca neagra (50%) – for 12 months, while rara neagra – for 8 months. But enough theory, without further ado, 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
Deep garnet color, not too opaque, with indigo shades towards the rim of the glass.

Olfactory
The nose is strong, filled mostly with red fruits and savory flavours: overripe strawberry, ripe sour cherry, ripe red apple, blackcurrant, red plum, ripe rose hips, black cherry, sweet cherry, ripe cranberry, leather, raw veal meat, forest floor and some insistent notes of horse saddle. An instant later the nose is filled with nunced notes of red pepper, paprika, nutmeg, rooibos tea, sundried oakwood and some subtle hints of beetroot.

Gustatory
The wine is dry, with moderate alcohol level, high acidity and fine tannin. It tastes lean, supple and opulent, with a nuanced leathery-tart accent. This is a plump, fruity yet savory and meaty wine blend, as it feels a bit seedy, bitter and quite off its balance – not ripe enough, with a very nice tannic grip on the mouthfeel. The wine has a fair overall balance between all those fruity and savory notes, which makes it a quite velvety blend.

Aftertaste
It has a medium-plus finish and a balanced, lean and supple aftertaste.
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This is definitely a fine Wine of Moldova and the overall rating says the same, with 90.4 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 that is still on the rise, one that has yet to reach its prime form, as it requires a couple more years of bottle ageing to round up. It feels a bit off its balance at the moment, as it tastes a bit bitter and a bit too tart, yet, despite its youthfulness, this is one of the blueprints wine blends of indigenous grape varieties. In order to counter-balance all that acidity and bitterness in the wine, we would suggest to pair it with meaty dishes with smooth and creamy textures, like for example a beef fillet mignon with foie gras and madeira sauce or a ribeye steaks with red wine sauce. Cheers!

WineStatistics tasting results:

MINIS TERRIOS
Rosu Imparat | 2015

grape: | feteasca neagra | rara neagra | cabernet sauvignon |

region: Moldova | Codru

overall rating: | 90.4 |

maturity: on the rise

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.