FÁUTOR | Aurore | Rara Neagra | 2016
rara neagra

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 single varietal rara neagra wine – Aurore Rara Neagra 2016 by Fáutor Winery. Rara neagra, also known as babeasca neagra in Romania, is an indigenous grape variety that is famous for its ability to highlight terroir. Rara neagra wines are highly romantic, with light body, velvety tannins and high acidity – some wine experts even compare them to pinot noir in terms of structure and finesse. This wine is part of the Aurore wine series, which is made of wines that are capable to reflect all the particularities and terroir of the Valul lui Traian wine region. But let’s not get carried away by the the theory aspect – without further ado, on to the tasting!
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Take a look at the tasting notes below and our detailed assessment of the wine:

Visual
Deep and noble, but not opaque garnet color, with elegant ruby shades towards the rim of the glass.

Olfactory
The nose is strong, filled mostly with red and blue fruit flavours: ripe sour cherry, ripe redcurrant, leather, blackcurrant, overripe blueberry, tomato leaf, ripe black mulberry, blackberry, jostaberry and ripe blue plum. An instant later the nose is filled with noble notes of sweet wood, nutmeg, red and black pepper, sweet tobacco and some subtle hints of coppa meat.

Gustatory
The wine is dry, with high alcohol level, high acidity and smooth tannin. It tastes fruity-savory, plump and elegant, with a velvety and round body, crisp acidity and a refined seedy-ripe accent. This is a quite noble, a it tart yet well structured rara neagra wine, as it feels fine, voluptuous and smooth. Overall, the wine is well balance and quite appealing.

Aftertaste
It has a long finish and an balanced, tart but velvety aftertaste.
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This is definitely a fine Wine of Moldova and the overall rating says the same, with 91.4 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 one of the best rara neagra wines we’ve tasted so far – velvety, elegant and noble – a wine that is almost in its prime form. Certainly, this is a wine that can resist some more bottle ageing (up to 12 months), yet we would not recommend it, as this is a fine example of a wine that should be enjoyed before it starts the decline. There are wines that might gain some elegance with age (if you’re lucky enough) while losing most of the flamboyance, but there are also wines that are elegant in their youth and age will take its toll on them. Due to this characteristics, we would suggest to pair this wine with dishes that are rich in natural, meaty-leathery accents, like for example a rare sirloin steak or a very rare skillet steak with browned butter sauce. Cheers!

WineStatistics tasting results:

FÁUTOR
Aurore | Rara Neagra | 2016

grape: | rara neagra |

region: Moldova | Valul lui Traian

overall rating: | 91.4 |

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.