PURCARI | Rosu de Purcari | 2016
cabernet sauvignon | merlot | malbec

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Today we are going to review a wine that has acquired a legendary status over the last decade – Rosu de Purcari 2016 by Purcari. This is in fact one of the winemaker’s flagship wines – a classic Bordeaux-style blend with the label Made in Moldova. The blend is made of cabernet sauvignon, which forms the main body and structure, merlot, which adds the red fruit character and rounds up the mouthfeel and malbec, which brings even more fruit (mainly sour cherry) and adds some much desired elegance to the final blend. This wine has been aged for 18 months in french oak barrels and is one of the most famous wines of Moldova, known far behind its modest borders. That said, without further ado, let’s take a look at the wine tasting results.
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Take a look at the tasting notes below and our detailed assessment of the wine:

//Visual
clarity: clear | hazy | cloudy | misty
brightness: dull | hazy | bright | starbright
concentration: translucent | pale | medium | deep | opaque
color: indigo | purple | ruby | garnet | copper
hue: indigo | purple | ruby | garnet | copper

//Sight
stain: light | medium | heavy
viscosity: low | medium | high
gas evidence: yes | no
sediment: yes | no

//Olfactory
outset: clean | faulty [TCA | sulphur | ethyl acetate | geosmin | brett | oxidation | VA]
intensity: delicate | light | moderate | rich | powerful
fruit profile: red fruits | black fruits | blue fruits | berry fruits
__red fruits: sour cherry | sweet cherry | red plum | red currant | cranberry
__black fruits: black cherry | black plum | blackcurrant | blackberry | black raspberry
__blue fruits: blue plum | blueberry | honeyberry | blue huckleberry
__berry fruits: strawberry | raspberry | wild strawberry | goji berry | wolfberry
fruit character: baked | unripe | ripe | overripe | jammy | dried

//Flavor
non fruit: floral | vegetal | herbal | spice | oak | sweet | animal | earth
__floral: orange blossom | roses | peonies | lilac | violet | lavender
__vegetal: dill | bell pepper | capsicum | asparagus | olive
__herbal: eucalyptus | coriander | currant leaf | tomato leaf
__spice: red pepper | black pepper | nutmeg | cloves | anise | rosemary | ginger | mint
__oak: coconut | vanilla | cinnamon | liquorice | tobacco | coffee | chocolate | smoke
__sweet: caramel | toffee | burnt sugar | molasses | menthol | dried figs
__animal: gravy | capocollo | veal| leather | musk | barnyard | horse saddle
__earth (organic): soil dust | turf | forest floor | compost | mushrooms | truffle
__earth (inorganic): limestone | chalk | slate | flint | aspirin | petroleum | varnish
__wood: [old | new | none] / [dried | roasted | charred]
aroma: primary | secondary | tertiary

//Palate
sweetness: bone dry | dry | off dry | sweet | extra sweet
acidity: low | med(-) | medium | med(+) | high
alcohol: low | med(-) | medium | med(+) | high
tannin: low | med(-) | medium | med(+) | high
__grip: fine | ripe | firm | green | rough
texture: creamy | round | lean
body: light | medium | full
balance: bad | poor | fair | good | fine
__dominant: sugar | acidity | alcohol | tannin | none
complexity: simple | moderate | complex

//Taste
fruit profile: red fruits | black fruits | blue fruits
fruit character: baked | unripe | ripe | overripe | jammy | dried
non fruit: floral | vegetal | herbal | spice | oak | sweet | animal | earth
aroma: primary | secondary | tertiary
finish: short | med(-) | medium | med(+) | long
aftertaste: rough | astringent | seedy | appealing | velvety

//Scoring
PURCARI | Rosu de Purcari | 2016
variety: cabernet sauvignon | merlot | malbec
origin: old world | new world
climate: cool | moderate | warm
country: Moldova
region: Stefan-Voda
rating: 92.0

//Conclusion
maturity: on the rise | in its prime | past its prime | on the decline
verdict: fair | good | fine | great | exceptional
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This is definitely a great wine of Moldova and, with a total of 92.0 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.

Verdict: this is a supple, full bodied and elegant wine blend that is still on the rise, thus we would suggest between 3 and 4 more years of bottle ageing. Despite its youthfulness, the wine has a quite ripe tannic grip on the mouthfeel, which leads to a velvety mid-palate, firming beautifully on the finish with a slightly bitter, seedy-crisp sensation. With a very nice balance between fruit and wood, this wine blend is extremely appealing, mixing power with finesse, adding new dimensions wit its overwhelming acidity and a touch of alcoholic warmth coming through, where neither dominates over the other. A real classic!

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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.