NOVAK | Pinot Noir | 2017
pinot noir

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Today we are going to review a single varietal pinot noir wine from the Valul lui Traian wine region – Pinot Noir 2017 by Novak Winery. The wine is part of the winemaker’s flagship Black Label line, made of wines that are produced from international grape varieties with extensive barrel fermentation. Pinot noir is the most sought after red wine in the world, as the grape itself is vulnerable, suffering from a variety of diseases and its genetics make it highly susceptible to mutation. Despite the difficulty in growing the grape, pinot noir is capable of producing the very best expressions of ‘terrior’ and in fact, this is the reason why pinot noir is so much appreciated all over the world. That said, let’s skip the theory part and, 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
Deep but not opaque garnet color with elegant pomegranate shades towards the rim of the glass.

Olfactory
The nose is strong, filled mostly with black fruits and spice flavours: blackcurrant, black blackberry, black plum, black mulberry, cherry tree wood and black tea. An instant later the nose is filled with very nuanced notes of roasted oakwood, red pepper, black pepper, cloves, nutmeg, sweet tobacco, chocolatte and some subtle hints of vanilla.

Gustatory
The wine is extra-dry, with strong alcohol level, high acidity and firm tannin. It feels hot, angular and spicy, with a fruity, yet grippy-tannic accent. This is a quite astringent, austere and extracted pinot noir wine, as it tastes firm, tart and oaky, with overwhelming alcohol burn on the mouthfeel. This is definitely a new-world vinification style – a quite complex pinot noir wine, with nuanced spiciness and subtle-elegant vanilla hints on the finish. Overall, the wine has a fair balance between primary fruit and oak-infused flavours, with a quite bold and muscular body.

Aftertaste
The wine has a long finish and a quite pleasing, astringent and hot aftertaste.
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This is definitely a fine wine of Moldova and, with a total of 91.2 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 fine example of a local pinot noir wine that is produced in a clear-cut, new-world style – a wine that is still on the rise, but very close to the pinnacle of its prime form. It feels firm, expressive and complex, with the promise to become a real classic in the next 12 to 18 months. What this wine definitely lacks, is some finesse and elegance on the palate, as the extremely nuanced spiciness, coupled with the punchy alcohol burn, makes it quite difficult to concentrate on the varietal characteristic of the grape. That said, we would recommend to pair this wine with smoky meaty dishes, like for example a barbequed tomahawk steak or a T-bone seasoned with spicy mix. Cheers!

WineStatistics tasting results:

NOVAK
Pinot Noir | 2017

grape: | pinot noir |

region: Moldova | Valul lui Traian

overall rating: | 91.2 |

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.