FÁUTOR | Illustro | 2015
cabernet sauvignon | merlot

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Today we are going to perform a trip into the past and re-evaluate a wine that is rightly considered amongst the best ever made in Moldova – Illustro 2015 by Fáutor Winery. This is the winemaker’s flagship wine – a blend of cabernet sauvignon and merlot, made of grapes sourced from the Valul lui Traian region, where cabernet sauvignon forms the main body and structure, whereas merlot adds up-front richness and rounds up the final blend, delivering some much desired smoothness on the finish. Illustro is a classic example of a modern Bordeaux blend that was vinified in a trending, new-world style, with 12 months of oak ageing and a couple of years of bottle ageing, with only 12500 bottles produced. That said, without further ado, let’s take a look at the results and find out how it has evolved since our last review.
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Take a look at the tasting notes below and our detailed assessment of the wine:

(rev.2020)

(rev.2021)

//Visual
colour: deep & opaque ruby
clarity: hazy ruby shades on the rim

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

//Flavor
non fruit: spice | oak | other
__spice: red pepper | black pepper
__oak: sweet tobacco | hints of nutmeg & liquorice
__other: dried cranberry | irony-meaty hints
__wood: new / medium roast

//Palate
sweetness: dry
acidity: med(+)
alcohol: med(+)
tannin: med(+)
__grip: firm
balance: good
__dominant: acidity
body: round | medium+ body

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

//Scoring
FÁUTOR | Illustro | 2015
variety: cabernet sauvignon | merlot
country: Moldova
region: Valul lui Traian
rating: 92.8

//Conclusion
maturity: close to its prime | age for 2-3 more years
verdict: great | a must try
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This is definitely a great wine of Moldova and, with a total of 92.8 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 definitely a very fine wine blend that is very close to the summit of its prime form – a wine that can age for another 2 or 3 years in the bottle. It feels round, extracted and complex, with a firm tannic grip on the mouthfeel and a seedy-crisp finale. This is a very noble and fruit-forward wine blend, with well integrated alcohol level and mouth-watering avidity, which makes it taste rich, plump and voluptuous. The wine feels well structured and nicely balanced and in its current state it delivers subtle tertiary hints of liquorice and violets on the nose and even some nuances of much desired velvetines on the palate, that might only bless the top quality wines and only with sufficient time spent in the bottle. We would recommend to pair this wine with meaty dishes that are rich in natural umami flavours, like for example venison tenderloin with mushrooms and asparagus or beef fillet with porcini and thyme.

(rev.2020)
(rev.2021)

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