PELICAN NEGRU | Velvet Red Blend | 2015
cabernet franc | merlot

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Tonight we are going to review yet another wine blend with the label ‘Made in Moldova’ – Velvet Red Blend 2015 by Pelican Negru. This wine is a classic Bordeaux blend, made of cabernet franc and merlot grape varieties, where cabernet franc forms the body and structure, while merlot adds the primary fruit and finesse to the final blend. It is a rarity to find cabernet franc based wines, which generally can be described as savory and round, with mouthwatering acidity and noble finish. But enough theory, without further ado, let’s get straight to the tasting and find out just how good this wine really is!
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Take a look at the tasting notes below and our detailed assessment of the wine:

Visual
Deep garnet-to-crimson color with noble ruby shades towards the rim of the glass.

Olfactory
The nose is strong, filled mostly with black fruits flavours: black cherry, black plum, ripe blackberry, black mulberry, blackcurrant, black raspberry, overripe sour cherry and nuanced notes of cherry tree wood. An instant later the nose is filled with noble notes of roasted wood, black pepper, nutmeg, black tea, anise and some subtle hints of cinnamon.

Gustatory
The wine is dry, with high alcohol level, high acidity and firm tannin. It tastes lean, tart and seedy yet round and opulent at the same time, with a nuanced fruitiness and a touch of alcoholic warmth showing through. This is a quite flat, flabby yet woody wine blend, one that feels too young and not ripe enough, lacking a bit of structure and firmness on the mouthfeel. Still, the wine has a fair overall balance between fruit and wood, with an acrid-angular accent towards the end of the palate.

Aftertaste
It has a medium finish and a supple, lean yet quite grippy aftertaste.
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This is definitely a fine Wine of Moldova and the overall rating says the same, with 90.6 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 quite fine wine blend that is still on the rise – a bit off its balance – a wine that is very close to the summit of its prime form, thus we are strongly advocating for a couple more years of bottle ageing (1 to 2 years should suffice). At the moment the wine feels quite off its balance, as it tastes acrid and opulent, grippy yet flabby, still, the potential is there – all it needs is a bit of patience and care. In order to counter-balance all that angularity in the wine, we would recommend to pair it with meaty dishes that are rich in spicy flavours, like for example a ribeye steak with red wine sauce or a cheese and cold cuts platter.

WineStatistics tasting results:

PELICAN NEGRU
Velvet Red Blend | 2015

grape: | cabernet franc | merlot |

region: Moldova | Stefan-Voda

overall rating: | 90.6 |

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.