PRIPA | Feteasca Neagra | 2016
feteasca neagra

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Today we are going to review another legendary single varietal feteasca neagra wine – Feteasca Neagra 2016 by Domeniile Pripa. Feteasca Neagra is the most famous grape variety in Romania, it has been grown for hundreds of years in the south of Moldova and eastern Muntenia – a variety that has not been yet explored at its full potential here in Moldova. This particular wine has been aged for 6 months in veritable moldovan oak barrels and produced in an extremely limited edition of only 480 bottles – which is a microvinification of an unprecedented scale. But let’s not get carried away by all that theory and, without further ado, let’s move on  – straight to the wine tasting phase!
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Take a look at the tasting notes below and our detailed assessment of the wine:

Visual
Very deep and opaque ruby color, with bright indigo shades towards the rim of the glass.

Olfactory
The nose is strong, filled mostly with ripe black fruit flavours: black cherry, blackcurrant, blackberry, black plum, black raspberry, black mulberry, dried black plum and cherry tree wood. An instant later the nose is filled with elegant notes of roasted oakwood, black pepper, smoked plum, black cherry jam, allspice, blackcurrant jam, leather, nutmeg, black mulberry jam, cloves, sweet tobacco, cinnamon and some subtle hints of mint.

Gustatory
The wine is extra-dry, with high alcohol level, high acidity and firm tannins. It feels fruity, oaky and expressive, with a grippy, tannic mouthfeel and a firm, full body. This is a quite complex, muscular and well structured feteasca neagra wine, that tastes elegant and noble, with a clear, fruit-forward profile. Overall, the wine has a good balance between primary fruit aromas and oak flavours, it might be slightly youthful and tart, yet this is definitely one of the finest feteasca neagra wines that we’ve reviewed so far.

Aftertaste
The wine has a long finish and an balanced, ripe and bitter-seedy aftertaste.
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This is definitely an exceptional wine of Moldova and, with a total of 92.5 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 very fine feteasca neagra wine – fruity, tannic and expressive – a wine that yet to reach the summit of its prime form. The wine still feels a bit youthful, therefore we would strongly advocate for a couple more years of bottle ageing (3 to 4 years should suffice). It is of paramount importance to understand a wine’s limits, as  there are wines that might gain some much desired elegance with age while losing most of the flamboyance, but there are also wines that are elegant enough in their youth and age will take its toll on them, thus balance and context matters. That said, our suggestion is to pair this wine with slightly spicy meaty dishes, especially those that are rich in natural umami flavours, like for example a grilled peppercorn-crusted filet mignon. Cheers!

WineStatistics tasting results:

PRIPA
Feteasca Neagra | 2016

grape: | feteasca neagra |

region: Moldova | Stefan-Voda

overall rating: | 92.5 |

maturity: on the rise

conclusion: excellent | (a must try)

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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.