GITANA WINERY | Saperavi | 2017
saperavi

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Today we are going to review a wine that is growing in popularity and quality with each new release – Saperavi 2017 by Gitana Winery. This is a single varietal saperavi wine, which is Georgia’s main red variety, that is also planted on substantial areas in Moldova. Saperavi is a teinturier grape variety, which means that the flesh of the berry is also dark, therefore the wines are very deep in color with nuanced acidity and lots of tannin, which makes them respond well to ageing. In fact the resulting wines are so deep in color that some wineries in Georgia label them as black wines instead of red wines. This particular wine has been aged in big clay amphoras in order to preserve all the varietal characteristics of the grapes. That said, without further ado, let’s take a look at the tasting results!
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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 elegant crimson-purple shades towards the rim of the glass.

Olfactory
The nose is strong, filled mostly with ripe black fruits and spicy flavours: leather, blue plum, blackcurrant, blackberry, blueberry, black cherry, sweet wood and licorice. An instant later, the nose is filled with notes of red & black pepper, sweet tobacco, smoked plum, nutmeg, dried fig, allspice and some nuanced hints of anise, juniper and violets.

Gustatory
The wine is dry, with high alcohol level, high acidity and fine-grained tannin. This is a real crowd pleaser – a wine that feels slightly sweet, leathery and relatively spicy, with a quite extracted fruity accent and a touch of alcoholic warmth showing through. It is a quite expressive, velvety and seedy-crisp wine, as it tastes flamboyant, supple and very delicious – a fine example of a well made, elegant speravi wine. The wine has a good balance between primary and secondary aromas and it feels round, firm and well structured, with a fine-grained tannic grip on the mouthfeel.

Aftertaste
The wine has a long finish and an elegant, crisp and seedy aftertaste.
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This is definitely an excellent 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 saperavi wine – velvety, delicious and extremely appealing – a wine that is still on the rise and one that can resist another year or two of bottle ageing. That said, we would strongly suggest to drink it today rather than tomorrow and enjoy its flamboyance and expressiveness, as we firmly believe that it is better to drink a wine a year too soon than a day too late. The wine has very nice structure, a fine-grained tannic grip on the mouthfeel and overwhelming fruitiness, that is complemented by the nuanced leathery hints – truth to be told, this is one of the finest saperavi wines we’ve tasted so far. Our recommendation is to pair this wine with meaty dishes that are rich in natural umami flavours, like for example an extra-rare filet mignon or tournedos rossini. Enjoy!

WineStatistics tasting results:

GITANA WINERY
Saperavi | 2017

grape: | saperavi |

region: Moldova | Valul lui Traian

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.