GITANA WINERY | Manastirea Rohrbach Cru | 2016
riesling

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Today we are going to review a very special wine with the label Made in Moldova – Manastirea Rohrbach Cru 2016 by Gitana Winery. This is a late harvest, single varietal riesling wine, that originates in the Valul lui Traian region, on the hills where once the Rohrbach monastery was practicing the art of winemaking. The whole concept behind this wine is inspired by old german viticulture practices, to the point that even the grape’s clones were imported from Germany and were planted on the best sun-exposed walled hill, called crus. Riesling must be the world’s most misunderstood grape variety, as the resulting wines are unlike any others – light in alcohol, high in natural acidity, with the ability to transmit the terrior through its extract and unique aroma and, what makes it stand out from the crowd, riesling wines are capable of ageing for decades. That said, let’s find out how good this wine is and where it stands in our ratings. On to the tasting!
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Take a look at the tasting notes below and our detailed assessment of the wine:

Visual
Noble, straw-yellow color with pale yellowish shades towards the rim of the glass.

Olfactory
The nose is strong, filled mostly with sweet fruits, citrus and floral flavours: petroleum, quince, yellow pear, jasmine, lemon, iris, honey, peach, nectarine, straw grass, pineapple, hay, beeswax, honeysuckle, acacia blossom, vanilla and some subtle hints of french baguette and rubber.

Gustatory
The wine is dry, with high alcohol level, high acidity and ripe tannins. It tastes noble, crisp and elegant, with a fruity-seedy profile and a full body. The wine has a quite rich and expressive mouthfeel, with mouth-watering acidity and an elegant, very appealing finale. This is a very fine riesling wine, that has a good overall balance and a quite complex, well structured palate.

Aftertaste
The wine has a long finish and an elegant, seedy-crisp aftertaste.
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This is definitely an excellent wine of Moldova and, with a total of 92.7 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: produced in a limited edition of only 6770 bottles, this is a very fine riesling wine – one of the best we’ve tasted so far, with a quite nice typicity that reminds us of some classic Mosel rieslings. The wine is right there, at the summit of its prime form – velvety, round and amazingly appealing, with a nuanced fruity-citrusy accent and mouth-watering, crisp acidity – drink now or in the next 12 to 18 months. Just remember that it is always better to drink a wine a year too soon than a day too late. That said, we would suggest to pair this wine with creamy dishes with slightly sweet accents, like for example shrimp alfredo pasta or mahi mahi fillets with lemon & garlic dressing. Enjoy!

WineStatistics tasting results:

GITANA WINERY
Manastirea Rohrbach Cru | 2016

grape: | riesling |

region: Moldova | Valul lui Traian

overall rating: | 92.7 |

maturity: in its prime

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.