TE WĀ WINES | Malbec | 2019
malbec

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Today we are also going to review a single-varietal malbec wine that comes from the famous Stefan-Voda wine region – Malbec 2019 by Te Wā Wines. Known for its plump, dark fruit flavors and smoky finish, malbec wines have been adored for centuries, especially by the royal houses of England and Russia. With elegant notes of plum, tobacco and hints of violets, malbec offers a great alternative to its higher priced siblings: merlot, cabernet sauvignon or syrah. The malbec variety originates in the famous Cahors region of France, however Argentina proved that there’s more to malbec variety than just value, as it can offer an unmatched complexity and elegance if produced in a new-world style, with a nuanced fruity character. Te Wā (which means ‘time will tell‘ in Maori) is a wine project initiated by two enthusiasts, whose aim is to create limited edition wines capable to deliver the very best of Moldova’s terroir. 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: purple
clarity: hazy
hue/rim: indigo

//Olfactory
intensity: vinous & powerful
fruit profile: black fruits | blue fruits | berry fruits
__black fruits: blackberry | blackcurrant
__blue fruits: blueberry | blue plum | honeyberry
__berry fruits: wildberry| goji berry
fruit character: unripe & ripe

//Flavor
non fruit: sweet | animal | earth
__sweet: bubble gum | figs
__animal: leather | veal
__earth: black soil | forest floor | wet tarmac | petrichor
__wood: none

//Palate
sweetness: dry
acidity: high
alcohol: med(+)
tannin: low
__grip: fine
body: light & lean
balance: fair
__dominant: acidity & alcohol
complexity: simple

//Taste
fruit profile: blue fruits
fruit character: unripe
non fruit: sweet & earth
finish: med(+)
aftertaste: crisp & seedy

//Scoring
TE WĀ WINES | Malbec | 2019
variety: malbec
country: Moldova
region: Stefan Voda
rating: 91.3

//Conclusion
maturity: youthful | on the rise
verdict: fine | highly recommended
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This is definitely a fine wine of Moldova and, with a total of 91.3 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 very fine and delicate wine – fruity, velvety and rustic, a wine that is still too youthful, as it has yet to reach the summit of its prime form, therefore we would recommend for at least 1 or 2 more years of bottle ageing. The wine tastes rich and expressive, it has a light body and a quite lean and supple palate, with just a touch of alcoholic warmth on the mouthfeel. This is a quite flamboyant wine, young and beautiful, with notes of bubble gum on the nose, fine-grained tannins and mouth-watering acidity – this is a fine example of how a modern wine can be crafted using tradition and technology. The wine feels extremely appealing, especially on its seedy-crisp finale – this is definitely a wine with a distinctive personality.
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