EQUINOX | Merlot | 2013
merlot

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Today we are going to review a wine that cannot be found on the market anymore – Merlot 2013 by Equinox. This is a single-varietal merlot wine made from grapes that were sourced from the Olanesti vineyard in the famous Stefan-Voda wine growing area. It has been aged for 24 months in oak barrels, in order to gain more grip and complexity. Merlot is usually regarded as the underdog to the highly priced cabernet sauvignon, but make no mistake here, merlot wine is first class – quite versatile, ripens earlier than cabernet sauvignon, responds well to oak ageing and can be grown in both, cool and warm climate. That said, without further ado, let’s take a look at the wine tasting sheet!
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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 noble copper shades towards the rim of the glass.

Olfactory
The nose is strong, filled mostly with ripe red fruits and some spicy flavours: overripe sour cherry, sundried oakwood, black plum, redcurrant, cranberry, cherry tree wood, dried cherry and dried cranberry. An instant later the nose is filled with notes of red pepper, clay, sweet tobacco and some subtle hints of wood polish.

Gustatory
The wine is extra-dry, with high alcohol level, high acidity and ripe tannins. It feels round, tart and supple, with an opulent-plumpy mouthfeel and a quite grippy, seedy-crisp accent. This is a fruity, grippy and quite tannic merlot wine – a wine that might lack some character on the palate. It has has a fair overall balance between primary fruit and oak-infused flavours, overwhelming acidity and a fine-tannic grip on the mouthfeel.

Aftertaste
The wine has a long finish and a quite pleasing, seedy-tart aftertaste.
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This is definitely a fine wine of Moldova and, with a total of 90.8 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 fine merlot wine with a very clear-cut varietal profiling: plumpy, fruit-forward and quite opulent, with overwhelming acidity and a fine-tannic grip on the mouthfeel. This is a wine that might still develop in the bottle for another year or two, yet we would not recommend it, on the contrary, we’d strongly suggest to drink it today. In order to elevate its fruitiness, we would suggest to pair this wine with fat-rich meaty dishes with smooth textures, like for example an extra-rare filet mignon steak or some tournedos rossini with foie gras, so that all the fruitiness in the wine will be perfectly complemented by the delicate umami flavours of the dish. Cheers!

WineStatistics tasting results:

EQUINOX
Merlot | 2013

grape: | merlot |

region: Moldova | Stefan-Voda

overall rating: | 90.8 |

maturity: past its prime

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.