TIMBRUS | Saperavi | Oak Aged | 2018
saperavi

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Today we are going to review a single varietal saperavi wine – Saperavi Oak Aged 2018 by Timbrus. Saperavi is Georgia’s main red variety, planted also on substantial plots in Moldova. Saperavi is a teinturier grape variety, which means that the flesh of the berry is also dark, therefore the wines are very deep in color with nuanced acidity and lots of tannin, which makes them respond well to ageing. In fact the resulting wines are so deep in color that some wineries in Georgia label them as black wines instead of red wines. This particular wine has been aged for 12 months in oak barrels in order to get more complexity. That said and 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: purple
clarity: clear
hue/rim: indigo

//Olfactory
intensity: rich
fruit profile: black fruits | blue fruits | red fruits
__black fruits: black plum | black cherry | blackcurrant | blackberry
__blue fruits: blue plum | blueberry | blue huckleberry
__red fruits: sour cherry | red currant
fruit character: ripe | overripe

//Flavor
non fruit: vegetal | spice | oak | animal | earth
__vegetal: brown olive
__spice: black pepper | rosemary
__oak: roasted oakwood
__animal: leather | veal | barnyard
__earth: turf | black soil
__wood: used / medium
aroma: primary | secondary

//Palate
sweetness: dry
acidity: high
alcohol: med(+)
tannin: med(-)
__grip: fine
body: round
balance: fair
__dominant: acidity | alcohol
complexity: simple

//Taste
fruit profile: black fruits | blue fruits
fruit character: ripe | overripe
non fruit: spice | oak | animal
finish: medium
aftertaste: seedy-tart

//Scoring
TIMBRUS | Saperavi | Oak Aged | 2018
variety: saperavi
country: Moldova
region: Stefan Voda
rating: 89.4

//Conclusion
maturity: on the rise
verdict: fair | not bad
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This is definitely a fair wine of Moldova and, with a total of 89.4 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 fair and quite youthful saperavi wine that is yet too young to be enjoyed today – bitter-seedy, tart and austere, with lots of black and blue fruits notes and some very nuanced irony-meaty hints. It still lacks harmony between its elements and feels quite off the balance, thus a couple more years of bottle ageing is very much recommended. The wine tastes slightly acrid and angular, with overwhelming acidity and a touch of alcoholic warmth on the mouthfeel. Despite its angularity, the wine has plenty of tannic grip on the mouthfeel and a nuanced fruity profile, thus we would suggest to pair this wine with spicy meaty dishes, like for example a pepper steak or a filet mignon steak with red wine sauce, so that all that acidity will get its chance to cut through the fat while the alcoholic warmth will be nicely countered by the spiciness of the meat. Cheers!
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