FÁUTOR | Fumé Blanc | 2019
sauvignon blanc

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Tonight we are going to review a very special wine, one that conquered our hearts from day one – Fumé Blanc 2019 by Fáutor Winery. This is a barrel aged sauvignon blanc wine from Filipeni vineyard, part of the Valul lui Traian region in the south-west of Moldova. It has been aged for 6 month in oak barrels and produced in a limited edition of only 6550 bottles. Oak aged sauvignon blanc wines are referred to as ‘fumé blanc‘ – a term invented by Robert Mondavi in an effort to increase the popularity of sauvignon blanc wines in the United States. Fumé Blanc is a word-game that derives from the famous Pouilly-Fumé appellation and the name of the grape variety that made this small AOC so famous all over the world – the famous sauvignon blanc grape variety. Also, the name fumé (french for ‘smoky‘) is a hint to the smoky character of the wine, that is imbued by the toasted oak staves of the barrels. This wine is at its fifth edition (you can find here our reviews for its previous versions: 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018), where the 2016 edition made history, as it was the first ever wine from Moldova to be awarded 90 points by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate. That said and without further ado, let’s move on straight to our tasting results.
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Take a look at the tasting notes below and our detailed assessment of the wine:

//Visual
color: medium yellow color
clarity: pastel yellow hues

//Olfactory
intensity: powerful & oaky
fruit profile: sweet fruits | stone fruits | tropical fruits
__sweet fruits: quince | pear | sea ​​buckthorn | honeydew melon
__stone fruits: apricot | peach
__tropical fruits: passion fruit
fruit character: ripe & overripe

//Flavor
non fruit: herbal | oak | sweet | other
__herbal: lemongrass | chamomile
__oak: vanilla | sun-dried oak | fresh oakwood
__sweet: caramel | cinnamon
__other: elderflower
primary layer: fruit & oak

//Palate
sweetness: dry
acidity: medium+
alcohol: medium+
tannin: low
__grip: ripe
balance: good
__dominant: none
body: round | medium+

//Taste
fruit profile: sweet & stone fruits
fruit character: ripe & overripe
non fruit: sweet & oak notes
finish: long
aftertaste: velvety

//Scoring
FÁUTOR | Fumé Blanc | 2019
variety: sauvignon blanc
country: Moldova
region: Valul lui Traian
rating: 94.4

//Conclusion
maturity: in its prime | drink now or within a year
verdict: great | a legendary wine
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This is definitely a great wine of Moldova and with a total of 94.4 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 fumé blanc wine, with an extremely appealing nose and a creamy-voluptuous palate – a wine that feels round, crisp and velvety-elegant. The wine is right there, at the peak of its form, therefore we would recommend to drink it today rather than tomorrow, as we firmly believe that it is always better to drink a wine a year too soon than a day too late. On the nose the wine showcases a mixture of ripe and overripe sweet fruits, mixed with very appealing oak-derived notes in the foreground, followed by some nuanced, citrusy-herbal hints in the background. On the palate the wine delivers mouth-watering acidity, soft but ripe tannins (this is no mistake, as this is a white wine that has tannins from barrel-ageing) and a touch of alcoholic warmth that is showing through on the mouthfeel, which evolves into a velvety-crisp aftertaste. All in all, this an outstanding fumé wine, definitely one of the best, if not ‘the best‘, oaked white wines we’ve tasted so far – a well structured wine of great complexity. There’s nothing more we can add here – it’s simply gorgeous!

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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.