A.GERE | Kopar | Villányi Cuvée | 2017
cabernet franc | merlot | cabernet sauvignon

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Today we are going to review a legendary wine from the famous Villány region in the south of Hungary, which is Hungary’s most famous wine region for red wines – Kopar Villányi Cuvée 2017 by Gere Attila Winery. This is the winemaker’s flagship wine – a classic Bordeaux blend made only in the best years – a reference point for many other hungarian reds. Vinified in a traditional old-world style, made from cabernet franc (50%), merlot (40%) and cabernet sauvignon (10%) grapes that were sourced from the property’s best vineyards in Kopár, Konkoly, Csillagvölgy and Ördögárok, where cabernet franc forms the main body and brings on the local terroir notes, merlot adds up-front richness and suppleness, while cabernet sauvignon enhances the wine’s structure and color. In order to preserve its individuality, the wine has been fermented using only selected, indigenous yeast strains, then part of the blend has been aged for 16 months in new, 300-litre Zemplén hungarian oak barriques, while the other part of the blend has been aged in big, used oak barrels (10 hl), with some additional bottle ageing prior to its market release. Needless to mention that it has been produced in a very limited edition, thus the wine is a rarity even in Hungary. But enough theory, 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
clarity: hazy garnet shades

//Olfactory
intensity: powerful & earthy
fruit profile: black fruits
__black fruits: black cherry | black plum | dried black cherry | dried black plum | blackberry | blackcurrant
fruit character: overripe & dried

//Flavor
non fruit: spice | oak | savory | earthy
__spice: cloves | nutmeg | black pepper
__oak: black tea | roasted oakwood | oaktree bark | sun-dried oakwood
__savory: leather | black olive
__earthy: black soil dust | slate | gravel 
primary layer: fruit & earth

//Palate
sweetness: dry
acidity: medium+
alcohol: high
tannin: high
__grip: fine
balance: good
__dominant: none
body: round & firm | full body

//Taste
fruit profile: black fruits
fruit character: overripe & dried
non fruit: spice & oak
finish: long
aftertaste: ripe & seedy

//Scoring
A.GERE | Kopar | Villányi Cuvée | 2017
variety: cabernet franc | merlot | cabernet sauvignon
country: Hungary
region: Villány
rating: 94.9

//Conclusion
maturity: in its prime | can age for another 4 to 5 years
verdict: great | a must try wine

//Prediction
RP rating: 92

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This is definitely a great wine of Hungary and, with a total of 94.9 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 legendary wine blend: round, firm and voluptuous – a wine that is right there, at the summit of its prime form, still a wine that has the potential to withstand another 4 to 5 years of bottle ageing. It feels noble, ripe and complex, with nice, well integrated acidity, fine-grained and ripe tannins and just a touch of alcoholic warmth showing through on the mouthfeel. On the nose the wine delivers overripe and dried black fruits, mixed with some noble earthy and spicy notes in the foreground, all of that supported by very subtle oakiness in the background. All in all, this is a well structured and perfectly balanced wine blend that feels bold and mesmerizingly good, with a very appealing ripe and seedy finale. What can we add more – this is an gorgeous wine indeed, a wine that has both, a distinctive personality and the footprint of the Villány terroir. Egészségére!

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