ET CETERA | Merlot | 2016
merlot

We will be evaluating wines in no particular order on no particular schedule. Just stay tuned and you will never miss our reviews. If the wine is tasted more than once, the rating table will be updated so as to reflect all the new impressions and observations.

Today we are going to review a single-varietal merlot wine, a wine that has all the prerequisites to become a local legend – Merlot 2016 by Et Cetera. This is the successor of the already legendary Merlot 2015 wine and, as is already the norm for premium class wines, it has been produced in a limited edition of only 7006 bottles and aged for 18 months in new oak barrels. The merlot grape variety is usually regarded as the underdog to cabernet sauvignon, but make no mistake here, merlot wine is first class as it is more round and less coarse than cabernet sauvignon and it usually responds very well to oak ageing. Also, merlot grapes can be grown in both, cool climate and warm climate conditions with the same success story, which is not always true for the cabernet sauvignon grapes. That said, without further ado, let’s take a look at the wine tasting results.
___________________________________________________________________________
Take a look at the tasting notes below and our detailed assessment of the wine:

//Visual
concentration: deep
colour: ruby
clarity: hazy
hue/rim: garnet

//Olfactory
intensity: rich
fruit profile: red fruits | black fruits
__red fruits: sour cherry | red plum | dried cranberry
__black fruits: black cherry | blackcurrant | black mulberry
fruit character: ripe to overripe

//Flavor
non fruit: spice | oak | other
__spice: red pepper | black pepper | nutmeg | cinnamon sticks
__oak: cherry tree wood | medium roasted oakwood| sweet tobacco
__other: hints of wood varnish & moist wool
__wood: new / medium
aroma: primary | secondary | tertiary

//Palate
sweetness: dry
acidity: high
alcohol: med(+)
tannin: med(+)
__grip: ripe
body: round | medium+
balance: good
__dominant: acidity & alcohol
complexity: moderate

//Taste
fruit profile: red fruits & black fruits
fruit character: overripe
non fruit: spice & oak
finish: med(+)
aftertaste: bitter-seedy

//Scoring
ET CETERA | Merlot | 2016
variety: merlot
country: Moldova
region: Stefan Voda
rating: 92.0

//Conclusion
maturity: youthfull | on the rise
verdict: great | a must try
___________________________________________________________________________
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 really great merlot wine that is still on the rise – a wine with a good ageing potential, therefore we would recommend at least 2 more years of bottle ageing. Despite its youthfulness, the wine feels supple and round, with a plump and voluptuous body, and a ripe tannic grip on the mouthfeel. It tastes firm but fine, with a nuanced fruit-forward profile (mostly overripe red fruits and ripe black fruits), that coupled with those velvety, spicy-oaky notes, gain additional traction on the plate. The wine is well structured, with acidity and alcohol dominating other the palate, which leads to a seedy-crisp and slightly bitter finale. All in all, this os one of the best local merlot wines so far, a wine that is in line with the current trend of prioritising varietal aromatics over the oak-infused flavours. Enjoy!
___________________________________________________________________________
© 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.