CASTEL MIMÍ | Merlot | Barrique | 2015
merlot
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Today we are going to review a single varietal merlot wine – the world’s most underrated grape variety, as it is usually regarded as the underdog to cabernet sauvignon – Merlot Barrique 2015 by Castel Mimí. Make no mistake, merlot wine is first class and it usually responds well to oak ageing, which is the case of this wine as well. Cool climate merlot is more structured, with higher tannins and more earthy flavors like tobacco and tar, while warm climate merlot is more fruit-forward and tannins are less prevalent. That being said, let’s skip that boring theory part and move on to the fun part – the wine tasting!
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Take a look at the tasting notes below and our detailed assessment of the wine:
Visual
Dark, but not opaque ruby color, with pale ruby shades towards the rim of the glass.
Olfactory
The nose is strong, filled mostly with black fruit flavours: ripe sour cherry, black cherry, blackcurrant, black plum, black mulberry, black soil dust and smoked plum. An instant later the nose is filled with notes of red pepper, nutmeg, black pepper, smoke, roasted oakwood, anise, cloves and some elegant hints of tobacco.
Gustatory
The wine is dry, with strong alcohol level, high acidity and firm tannin. It feels bold, bitter and austere, with a quite seedy-tart accent. This is a firm, woody and quite angular wine, as it tastes muscular and sharp – definitely off its balance, as it lacks harmony and elegance, with wood dominating over the fruit. This is a rough merlot wine, with a touch of alcoholic warmth on the mouthfeel and a fair overall balance – it requires at least 30 minutes of aeration prior tasting.
Aftertaste
The wine has a medium-plus finish and a rough & green aftertaste.
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This is definitely a good wine of Moldova and, with a total of 89.8 points scored, this wine is right there, among the best wines we’ve rated so far. Check our complete database on the wine rating page, where you can find all the wines that we have tasted and reviewed or go to the about us page and find out more about our exquisite rating system.
Conclusion: this is a quite angular and auster merlot wine that is quite a bit off its balance – a wine that is already on the edge of decline, as it lacks harmony and elegance on the palate. The wine feels woody, with oak clearly dominating over the fruit and it does not hold any promises for further development, therefore there’s little reason for more bottle ageing. Overall this is a full-bodied merlot wine, with a bitter-tart mouthfeel and a seedy-tannic finale. Our suggestion is to pair it with spicy or barbequed meaty dishes, like for example a grilled new york strip steak or a butter-basted rib eye steaks, in order to counter-balance all the sharp edges in the wine with the spiciness of the food. Cheers!
WineStatistics tasting results:
CASTEL MIMÍ
Merlot | Barrique | 2015
grape: | merlot |
overall rating: | 89.8 |
maturity: on the decline
conclusion: good | (recommended)
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© 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. Just remember that there are no absolutes of right and wrong in wine appreciation.
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