VALAHORUM | Primul Vin | Anul 01 | Shiraz | 2016
syrah

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Today we are going to review a very interesting, single varietal syrah wine from the famous Dealu Mare region – Valahorum Primul Vin Anul 01 Shiraz 2016 by Tohani. In a world where bigger is better, syrah is the ideal choice, as it is darker, bolder and spicier than cabernet sauvignon or merlot and contains a high amounts of health-invigorating antioxidants. The wine we are reviewing today is a barrel-aged syrah wine, signed by the famous romanian winemaker Razvan Macici – one of the two winemakers at the newly created ‘Crama Mierla Alba’ winery. Syrah and Shiraz are the two names for the same variety: Syrah represents the old-world style of vinification while Shiraz is the name for the new-world style. Old-world syrah wines tend to have green tannins and more acidity, with earthy-herbaceous aromas, while the new-world shiraz wines are usually fruit-forward with ripe tannins and lots of spicy-smoky flavours. But let us skip all that theory and, without further ado, let’s move on – straight to the wine tasting phase. On we go!
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Take a look at the tasting notes below and our detailed assessment of the wine:

Visual
Very deep and noble ruby color with elegant purple hues towards the rim of the glass.

Olfactory
The nose is strong, filled mostly with black and red fruit flavours: black plum, overripe sour cherry, ripe blue plum, blackcurrant, black mulberry, ripe blueberry, blackberry, overripe black cherry, dried black plum, dried black cherry and some insistent hints of wood polish. An instant later the nose is filled with insistent notes of roasted oakwood, leather, black pepper, cloves, tobacco, dark chocolate and hints of smoke.

Gustatory
The wine is dry, with strong alcohol level, high acidity and rough tannin. It feels green, tart and aggressive, with a firm and bold body, seedy tannins and a fruity-spicy profile, with the fruit mostly on the cooked side. This is a rough, woody and austere syrah wine, as it tastes astringent, tannic and angular. This wine has a fair overall balance, with primary fruit being overshadowed by the oak-infused flavours, as it definitely lacks harmony and finesse on the palate in its current state.

Aftertaste
The wine has a long finish and a arough, green and spicy-hot aftertaste.
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This is definitely a fine wine of Romania and, with a total of 90.3 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: overall this is a fine syrah wine that is still on the rise, yet quite close to its prime form – a wine that requires another 2 or 3 years of bottle ageing. In its current state the wine feels rough, green and aggressive, but this is to be expected, as the wine comes from the famous Dealu Mare region, where all the region’s winemakers are facing a big challenge in the last couple of seasons due to excessively warm weather conditions: either harvest the grapes earlier in the season and risk to get green tannins in the wine due to unripe stems and seeds, or harvest the grapes later in the season and risk to get high alcohol content due to the high sugar concentration in the berries. Without ripe tannins, what you get are wines that are green and rough, which is precisely the effect of grapes harvested too early. To be honest, we’ll opt for the higher alcohol wines, if that is what it takes to get all the complexity and flavour with ripe, fine-grained tannins. That said, for the best wine & food experience, we would strongly recommend to pair this wine with spicy meaty dishes with slightly sweet accents, like for example an asian steak with butter and soy sauce or a spicy t-bone steak with black pepper and smoked paprika. Cheers!

WineStatistics tasting results:

VALAHORUM
Primul Vin | Anul 01 | Shiraz | 2016

grape: | syrah |

region: Romania | Dealu Mare

overall rating: | 90.3 |

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.