PURCARI | Grande Cuvée de Purcari | Extra Brut | Vintage 2016
chardonnay | pinot blanc | pinot noir
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Tonight we are going to review a very special sparkling wine – one of the stars of local crémant wines – Grande Cuvée de Purcari Extra Brut Vintage 2016 by Purcari. It is special because this is a veridic crémant wine, made by the authentic méthode traditionelle technique, using all three grape varieties that are allowed in the Champagne region: chardonnay, pinot blanc and pinot noir. With manual bottle remuage and a total of 18 months sur lie ageing, this wine is the winemaker’s flagship cuvée. Due to long term second fermentation in the bottle and further bottle maturation, the wine develops extra complexity and delivers enhanced creaminess on the palate. Also, this is a so called millésime sparkling wine, which means that it was created from a single harvest, that of 2016. But enough theory – without further ado let’s move on, straight to the tasting!
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Take a look at the tasting notes below and our detailed assessment of the wine:
Visual
Bright, topaz-yellow color with pastel yellow shades towards the rim of the glass.
Olfactory
The nose is strong, filled mostly with sweet fruits and citrus flavours: overripe yellow pear, baked apple, candied apricot, lemon, pineapple, ripe quince, peach, nectarine, fresh baked bread, butter, panna cotta, crème brûlée, brie, mozzarella, french baguette, lees, bread crumbs and some hints of cashew and almonds.
Gustatory
The wine is dry, with high alcohol level, high acidity and green tannin. It tastes yeasty, seedy and quite green, with a nuanced fruity-lactic accent. This is a complex, angular and austere crémant wine with nuanced bitterness on the mouthfeel and a touch of alcoholic warmth. The wine has a fair overall balance, as it feels quite aggressive and rough towards the end of the palate.
Aftertaste
The wine has a long finish and a quite crisp, bitter-seedy aftertaste.
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This is definitely a fine wine of Moldova and, with a total of 90.9 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 austere crémant wine that still needs 3 or 4 more years of bottle ageing before it will reach its prime form. It has a full body, yet it feels seedy, slightly rough and yeasty – a wine that lacks elegance and finesse on the palate. Due to its unbalance, the wine tastes zesty, austere and sharp, yet it does have a quite appealing, fruity-lactic profile. With mouth-watering acidity, this wine is surprisingly versatile and pairs well with a wide range of cuisine, therefore we would recommend to pair this wine with salty, fat-rich dishes with high acidity, like for example avocado and goat cheese toasted bruschetta, so that acids and bubbles will cut through the fattiness of that dish, while the citrus flavours will pair nicely with the saltiness of the dish. Enjoy!
WineStatistics tasting results:
PURCARI
Grande Cuvée de Purcari | Extra Brut | Vintage 2016
grape: | chardonnay | pinot blanc | pinot noir |
region: Moldova | Stefan-Voda
overall rating: | 90.9 |
maturity: on the rise
conclusion: fine | (highly 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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WineStatistics is a non-profit community. We produce independent and highly detailed wine reviews.
By training ourselves to stop, take a breath, and pay attention to the subtle elements that distinguish one wine from any other, we learn an important lesson about life – that it’s worth taking the time to slow down and appreciate things that pleases us, from a glass of wine to a great work of art. It’s a simple way to learn to appreciate the little things in life that may in some small way enhance our enjoyment of every day.
In order to continue our work we need support from people like you. People who appreciate our contribution in spreading wine knowledge and raising wine awareness across the borders.
You may now support us by contributing with a one-time donation so that we can review even more wines.
WineStatistics is a non-profit community. We produce independent and highly detailed wine reviews.
By training ourselves to stop, take a breath, and pay attention to the subtle elements that distinguish one wine from any other, we learn an important lesson about life – that it’s worth taking the time to slow down and appreciate things that pleases us, from a glass of wine to a great work of art. It’s a simple way to learn to appreciate the little things in life that may in some small way enhance our enjoyment of every day.
In order to continue our work we need support from people like you. People who appreciate our contribution in spreading wine knowledge and raising wine awareness across the borders.
You may now support us by contributing with a monthly donation so that we can review even more wines.
WineStatistics is a non-profit community. We produce independent and highly detailed wine reviews.
By training ourselves to stop, take a breath, and pay attention to the subtle elements that distinguish one wine from any other, we learn an important lesson about life – that it’s worth taking the time to slow down and appreciate things that pleases us, from a glass of wine to a great work of art. It’s a simple way to learn to appreciate the little things in life that may in some small way enhance our enjoyment of every day.
In order to continue our work we need support from people like you. People who appreciate our contribution in spreading wine knowledge and raising wine awareness across the borders.
You may now support us by contributing with a yearly donation so that we can review even more wines.
WineStatistics 
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and the Grande Cuvée de Purcari article is very well written and useful!
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Thanks and kisses! 🙂
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