VINARIA NOBILA | Feteasca Neagra | 2017
feteasca neagra

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Today we are going to review a single-varietal feteasca neagra wine from the famous Stefan Voda region in the south of Moldova – Feteasca Neagra 2017 by Vinaria Nobila. Feteasca Neagra is an indigenous romanian variety that has been grown for hundreds of years on substantial plantings in the south of Moldova and eastern Muntenia and today, this is the most famous red variety in Romania. Wines made from feteasca neagra grapes are usually fruit-forward, complex and structured, wines that often are compared to merlot and cabernet franc, mostly due to their body, robust tannins and elegant textures. There is a rising demand lately for feteasca neagra wines on the local market as well as on the international markets and many wine experts name this variety as the visit card of romanian wines. This particular wine has been aged for 16 months in oak barrels in order to gain more complexity and structure and is signed by the famous local oenologist Oleg Boboc. 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: medium-deep ruby color
clarity: hazy garnet hues on the rim

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

//Flavor
non fruit: spice | savory | earthy | other
__spice: red pepper | cloves
__savory: leather | brown olive | iron | veal | capocollo
__earthy: loam | clay | soil dust | turf | sweet potato | beetroot
__other: dried cranberry | dried red plum | wormwood
primary layer: savory

//Palate
sweetness: dry
acidity: high
alcohol: high
tannin: medium-
__grip: fine
balance: good
__dominant: alcohol & acidity
body: supple & round | medium

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

//Scoring
VINARIA NOBILA | Feteasca Neagra | 2017
variety: feteasca neagra
country: Moldova
region: Stefan Voda
rating: 91.8

//Conclusion
maturity: developing | age for 2 or 3 years
verdict: fine | highly recommended
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This is definitely a fine wine of Moldova and, with a total of 91.8 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 a very fine and delicate feteasca neagra wine indeed: fruity-savory, velvety and rustic – a wine that is still developing inside the bottle, therefore we would recommend another 2 or 3 years of bottle ageing. The wine tastes supple, delicate and slightly tart, mostly due to its elevated acidity. On the palate it delivers a very pleasant, fine-tannic grip and a touch of alcoholic warmth on the mouthfeel, which leads to a seedy-crisp finale. On the nose the wine brings a noble mixture of ripe and dried red fruits and some very nuanced savory notes in the foreground, supported nicely by a very delicate, rustic-earthy background. This wine might set an example of how a terrior-driven feteasca neagra wine can be crafted outside of its homeland in Romania. This is a wine that holds promises of future elegance, a wine where the purity of fruit is complemented by those sought-after, terroir-driven, earthy notes – a rare wine where the nose and palate is not veiled by the oak-infused flavours, on the contrary, it has been enhanced with a very subtle, spicy layer that adds complexity and, dare we say, finesse.

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