CARASTELEC | Vinca | Benedict | Pinot Noir | 2018
pinot noir

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Today we are going to review a very special wine, as this is a single-varietal pinot noir from the Crisana region in the north-western Romania – Vinca Benedict Pinot Noir 2018 by Carastelec Winery. Pinot Noir has reached a legendary status over the last decades and today it is the most sought-after red wine in the world. The grape itself is quite vulnerable, suffering from a multitude of diseases and its genetics make it highly susceptible to mutation. But despite all the difficulty to grow pinot noir, when treated with utmost care, it is capable of producing the very best expressions of terrior. This particular wine has been aged for 10 months in Burgundy-type oak barriques and has been named named in the honour of Pope Benedict XIV who granted the Carastelec village the right to hold a festival on Holy Cross Day in 1754. 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
colour: pale garnet color
clarity: hazy copper hues

//Olfactory
intensity: rich & clean
fruit profile: red fruits
__red fruits: sour cherry | red cherry | cranberry | red currant & pomegranate
fruit character: ripe

//Flavor
non fruit: vegetal | spice & oak
__vegetal: tomato leaf | wormwood & dried tomato
__spice: nutmeg & red pepper
__oak: roasted oakwood | sweet tobacco | sun-dried oakwood | nuanced hints of coconut & vanilla
primary layer: oak

//Palate
sweetness: dry
acidity: medium+
alcohol: medium+
tannin: low
__grip: fine
balance: good
__dominant: none
body: supple & lean | medium

//Taste
fruit profile: red fruits
fruit character: ripe
non fruit: spice
finish: medium+
aftertaste: seedy-crisp

//Scoring
CARASTELEC | Vinca | Benedict | Pinot Noir | 2018
variety: pinot noir
country: Romania | Crisana
region: Crisana | Silvania
rating: 93.5

//Conclusion
maturity: in its prime  | drink now or in the next 2 years
verdict: great | a must try wine
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This is definitely a great wine of Romania and, with a total of 93.5 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 gorgeous pinot noir wine: supple, lean and slightly opulent – a wine that is right there, at the summit of its prime form, yet one that can resist another year or two of bottle ageing. It tastes seedy and crisp, delivering a mesmerizing mixture of red fruits and coconut-vanilla flavours in the foreground, supported by some very nuanced and delicate vegetal notes in the background. The wine feels well balanced and nicely structured on the palate, with velvety, fine-grained tannins, mouth-watering acidity and well integrated alcohol level. Still, we couldn’t shake of the feeling that the wine was overwhelmed by those oak-infused flavours of vanilla and coconut, which made the wine extremely appealing on one hand, but diffused its varietal characteristics and those subtle hints of tipicity and terroir. All in all, this is a very noble and, dare we say elegant pinot noir wine from a cool climate region: supple and delicate – a wine that will go nicely when paired with an extra-rare or medium-rare filet mignon steak. Enjoy!

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© 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.