TSANTALI | Rapsani | Grande Reserve | 2012
xynomavro | krassato | stavroto

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Today we are going to review a wine that is rightfully considered to be a living legend of northern Greece – Rapsani Grande Reserve 2012 by Tsantali. This wine is a blend made out of grapes sourced from the Rapsani vineyard – the vineyard of the ‘godly’ Mount Olympus. The legendary Rapsani wine (which has its own PDO) is produced from three red, indigenous grape varieties: xynomavro, which is found in the area towards the north, krassato, which is the heart of Rapsani and a real olympian speciality, and stavroto, a grape grown further south. Krassato is the key to this blend, as the resulting wines are deep in color, rich on the nose, high in alcohol and dense in structure – wines that responds very well to oak aging, especially in top quality oak barriques. Krassato must be, by law, at least one third of the blend of Rapsani PDO, with xinomavro, which adds aromatic complexity, acidity and tannin, must also be at least one third, while the remaining part is stavroto, a far less interesting grape. For this reason, producers usually keep stavroto to a minimum and create a virtually 50/50 Krassato-Xinomavro wine blend. 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: hazy
concentration: medium
colour: ruby
hue/rim: garnet

//Sight
stain: medium
viscosity: high
sediment: none

//Olfactory
outset: clean
intensity: powerful
fruit profile: red fruits | black fruits | blue fruits
__red fruits: sour cherry
__black fruits: black cherry | black plum | blackcurrant | blackberry
__blue fruits: blue plum
fruit character: ripe | overripe

//Flavor
non fruit: floral | vegetal | herbal | spice | oak | animal | earth
__floral: violet
__vegetal: black olive
__herbal: mint
__spice: black pepper | nutmeg
__oak: vanilla | liquorice | tobacco | roasted oakwood
__animal: veal| leather
__earth: slate
__wood: new | used / medium roasted
aroma: primary | secondary | tertiary

//Palate
sweetness: dry
acidity: high
alcohol: med(+)
tannin: med(+)
__grip: ripe
texture: round
body: full
balance: good
__dominant: acidity
complexity: complex

//Taste
fruit profile: black fruits | blue fruits
fruit character: ripe | overripe
non fruit: spice | oak
finish: med(+)
aftertaste: velvety

//Scoring
TSANTALI | Rapsani | Grande Reserve | 2012
variety: xynomavro | krassato | stavroto
climate: moderate
country: Greece
region: PDO Rapsani
rating: 93.3

//Conclusion
maturity: on the rise
verdict: great
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This is definitely a great wine of Greece and, with a total of 93.3 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 marvelous wine indeed – a wine that has yet to reach the summit of its prime form – elegant, firm and voluptuous, with a firm, tannic structure and a savory, old-world accent – this wine begs for more ageing, as it can definitely resist another 3 to 4 years in the bottle. With ageing period demanded at minimum 4 years in total, of which at least 18 months must be in oak barrels and another 18 in the bottle, this wine does not lack neither in character nor in structure – it feels very well balanced, harmonious and complex, with a dense yet supple mouthfeel, filled with ripe black fruits and spice, which leads to a velvety, seedy-crisp finale. What can we say more – this is a great wine. Enjoy!

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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.