ATÚ WINERY | Calibru .12-21 | 2017
feteasca neagra | merlot | cabernet sauvignon

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Today we are going to review a wine that has raised some eyebrows once it hit the local wine market – Calibru .12-21 2017 by Atú Winery. This is the winemaker’s flagship wine – a blend made of feteasca neagra, merlot and cabernet sauvignon, where feteasca neagra forms the main body and flavour profile, merlot rounds up the palate and brings more fruit flavours, while cabernet sauvignon adds structure and enhances the color. Each variety has been harvested individually at its optimal ripeness and aged separately for 12 months and 21 days in new romanian oak barrels. 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
concentration: medium
colour: ruby
clarity: hazy
hue/rim: ruby

//Olfactory
intensity: powerful
fruit profile: red fruits | black fruits
__red fruits: sour cherry
__black fruits: black cherry | black plum | blackcurrant | blackberry | aronia | black mulberry
fruit character: ripe

//Flavor
non fruit: spice | oak | earth
__spice: black pepper | nutmeg
__oak: tobacco | liquorice | vanilla | hints of chocolate
__earth: black soil dust
__wood: new / medium
aroma: primary | secondary

//Palate
sweetness: dry
acidity: high
alcohol: high
tannin: medium
__grip: fine
body: full
balance: good
__dominant: alcohol & acidity
complexity: moderate

//Taste
fruit profile: red fruits | black fruits
fruit character: ripe
non fruit: spice | oak
finish: med(+)
aftertaste: appealing

//Scoring
ATÚ WINERY | Calibru .12-21 | 2017
variety: feteasca neagra | merlot | cabernet sauvignon
country: Moldova
region: Codru
rating: 91.8

//Conclusion
maturity: on the rise
verdict: fine | highly recommended
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This is definitely a fine wine of Moldova and, with a total of 91.8 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.

Verdict: this is a very fine wine blend – round, supple and firm, with a pronounced alcoholic burn on the plate and overwhelming acidity – this that definitely needs a bit more time in the bottle (2 to 3 years should be fine), as it has yet to reach its prime form. The wine tastes rich, spicy and crisp, with a nuanced fruit-forward profile and a ripe seediness in the aftertaste. Although the wine has a fine tannic grip on the mouthfeel, it feels lean and very appealing, with a full body and a medium-plus complexity. What this wine lacks today is some elegance and finesse on the palate – traits that might (or might not) develop with time spent into the bottle.
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