TARABOSTE | Pur Aristocratic | Rezerva | 2018
cabernet sauvignon | merlot

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The other wine that we are going to review today is a Bordeaux-styled blend that is considered to be among the best red wines of Moldova – Taraboste Pur Aristocratic Rezerva 2018 by Château Vartely. This is the winemaker’s flagship red wine (you can check here our reviews for its previous versions: 2015, 2016, 2017 and the twin sibling 2018) – a blend of cabernet sauvignon and merlot grape varieties, where cabernet sauvignon forms the wine’s main body and structure, while merlot adds up-front richness and rounds up the final blend, delivering some much desired smoothness on the finish. This is in fact the world’s most famous wine blending formula, where cabernet sauvignon is softened by merlot on the mid-palate, while merlot is enriched by cabernet sauvignon in terms of flavours, color and tannin. The wine is vinified in a classic Bordeaux-style, made of grapes that were sourced from the warm Bugeac region (in the south of Moldova) and aged for 33 months in new, french oak barriques in order to gain further complexity and finesse. The wine is part of the Taraboste line, which is a tribute to the dacian ancestors, who set up the old traditions of winemaking in the northern Balkans regions. 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 and noble ruby color
clarity: hazy garnet shades on the rim

//Olfactory
intensity: pronounced & oaky
fruit profile: black fruits
__black fruits: blackberry | black plum | blackcurrant | black cherry | pomegranate skin
fruit character: overripe

//Flavor
non fruit: spice | oak | earth | other
__spice: nutmeg | cloves | peppercorn | tonka seeds
__oak: roasted oakwood | sweet tobacco | liquorice | charred wood
__earth: dust | graphite | gravel | charcoal
__other: hints of rosemary & thyme
primary layer: fruit & oak

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

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

//Scoring
TARABOSTE | Pur Aristocratic | Rezerva | 2018
variety: cabernet sauvignon | merlot
country: Moldova
region: Valul lui Traian | Bugeac
rating: 93.6

//Conclusion
maturity: developing | needs time | age for 3 to 5 years
verdict: great | a legendary wine
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This is definitely a great wine of Moldova 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 very crisp and quite youthful wine blend, with a nuanced fruity-oaky accent on the nose and a firm mouthfeel. It is still in the development phase, therefore we would recommend to give it 3 to 5 more years of bottle ageing, in order to allow it to reach its full potential, but don’t overdo it, as 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 black fruits and a very nuanced dusty accent in the foreground, followed by a very appealing, spicy-oaky background and a subtle, earthy layer in between the two. On the palate the wine delivers exuberant acidity, ripe and fine-grained tannins and a touch of alcoholic warmth that is showing through on the mouthfeel, which leads to a crisp and seedy aftertaste. All in all, this is a very round, slightly tart but complex wine blend with a great ageing potential – a wine that in its current state lacks some finesse and elegance on the palate. This is definitely a wine with a great ageing potential and one of the best Bordeaux-styled, red blends of Moldova. We believe it will pair lovely with spicy or grilled meats, like for example a peppercorn-crusted tomahawk steak or a rosemary-garlic flank steak. Keep an eye on this wine, as we might come back with a review in a year or two, as the potential is clearly there. In the meanwhile, get one and 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.