DAGON ESTATE | Got Merlot | 2018
merlot | feteasca neagra

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Today we are going to review an iconic wine from Dealu Mare – Got Merlot 2018 by Dagon Estate. This wine is a blend of merlot (75%) and feteasca neagra (25%), harvested from old vines, planted on sandy-rich soils on the hillsides of Valea Nucetului in Dealu Mare wine region. In order to preserve the varietal typicity of the grape varieties, the wine has been fermented on wild yeasts and aged in a romanian oak barrel for 16 months, then another 6 months in the bottle and produced in a very limited edition of only 415 bottles (ours was the sample #101), as only one barrel of this wine has been made. Even though this wine is a blend, merlot is playing the main role here, usually regarded as the underdog to the highly priced cabernet sauvignon or cabernet franc varieties, but make no mistake, merlot wine is first class, as it is more versatile and ripens earlier than both cabernet grapes, responds well to oak ageing and can be grown in both, cool climate and warm climate with the same success.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: deep & opaque ruby color
clarity: hazy but noble ruby shades

//Olfactory
intensity: pronounced & extracted
fruit profile: black fruits | dried fruits
__black fruits: black cherry | black plum | black mulberry | bramble | blackberry | aronia berry
__dried fruits: dried black cherry | dried black plum | dried black mulberry | dried blackberry
fruit character: overripe & dried

//Flavor
non fruit: spice | oak | earth
__spice: black pepper | tonka seeds | nutmeg | cloves
__oak: roasted oakwood | charred wood | sweet tobacco | black tea | oaktree bark | chocolate
__earth: graphite | sand 
primary layer: fruit & oak

//Palate
sweetness: dry
acidity: high
alcohol: high
tannin: high
__grip: ripe
balance: good
__dominant: alcohol
body: bold | full body

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

//Scoring
DAGON ESTATE | Got Merlot | 2018
variety: feteasca neagra | merlot
country: Romania | Muntenia
region: Dealu Mare | Fintesti
rating: 93.6

//Conclusion
maturity: developing | age for 3 to 5 more years
verdict: great | a must try wine

//Prediction
predicted rating: 90

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This is definitely a great wine of Romania and, with a total of 93.6 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 firm, bold and muscular merlot-based wine blend, with a quite extracted mouthfeel and an expressive nose. The wine is still in the development phase, therefore we would recommend to age it for 3 to 5 more years in the bottle in order to allow it to unleash its full potential, just keep in mind that it is always better to drink a wine a year too soon than a day too late. On the nose the wine brings a mixture of overripe and dried black fruits in the foreground, followed by a very nuanced, spicy-oaky background and a subtle earthy layer in between. On the palate the wine delivers crisp acidity, ripe and seedy tannins and an overwhelming touch of alcoholic warmth that is showing through on the mouthfeel, which leads to a slightly angular and seedy aftertaste. All in all, this is an outstanding, full-bodied wine: ripe, tannic and grippy – a wine that is all about power and muscles. Our recommendation is to pair it with spicy or barbequed meats, like for example a peppercorn-crusted fillet mignon. Cheers!

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