SAUSKA | Cuvée 7 | Villány | 2017
cabernet sauvignon | cabernet franc | merlot

We will be evaluating wines in no particular order on no particular schedule. Just stay tuned and you will never miss our reviews. If the wine is tasted more than once, the rating table will be updated so as to reflect all the new impressions and observations.

Today we are going to review a wine blend from one of our favourite wine growing areas – the famous Villány region in the south of Hungary – Cuvée 7 Villányi 2017 by Sauska. Made only with selected grapes from the winemaker’s best vineyards in Villány (planted on hill slopes, rich in loess, clay and marl-rich soils), this wine is a blend of cabernet sauvignon (Ördögárok vineyard), cabernet franc (Kopár vineyard) and merlot (Konkoly vineyard), where cabernet sauvignon, the backbone of the blend, forms the wine’s main body and structure, cabernet franc creates a leaner mouthfeel and brings adds earthy savoriness to the mid-palate, while merlot rounds up the final blend, delivering much desired smoothness on the finish. In order to preserve the typicity of each grape variety and to highlight the footprint of the local terroir notes, the final blend has been aged for 15 months in used (70%) and new (30%) french oak barriques. That said and without further ado, let’s take a look at the wine tasting results.
_________________________________________________________________________
Take a look at the tasting notes below and our detailed assessment of the wine:

//Visual
colour: deep garnet color
clarity: hazy garnet shades

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

//Flavor
non fruit: oak & earth
__oak: roasted oakwood | cloves | vanilla | tobacco | anise | sun-dried oak | oaktree bark | black tea
__earthy: black soil | dust | pencil lead | compost
primary layer: oak

//Palate
sweetness: bone dry
acidity: high
alcohol: high
tannin: high
__grip: seedy
balance: good
__dominant: acidity & alcohol
body: firm & grippy | full body

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

//Scoring
SAUSKA | Cuvée 7 | Villány | 2017
variety: cabernet sauvignon | cabernet franc | merlot
country: Hungary
region: Villány
rating: 93.8

//Conclusion
maturity: in its prime | drink now or within the next 2 years
verdict: great | a must try wine
_________________________________________________________________________

This is definitely a great wine of Hungary and, with a total of 93.8 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 quite firm and crisp wine blend that feels seedy, grippy and a oaky, with a ripe nose and a plump mouthfeel – a wine that has already reached its peak form, therefore we would recommend to drink it sooner rather than later, 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 delivers a nuanced oaky accent, mixed with notes of overripe and dried black fruits in the foreground, followed by some very noble, earthy hints in the background. On the palate the wine displays bright acidity, seedy and firm tannins and a touch of alcoholic warmth that is showing through on the mouthfeel, all of which leads to a seedy-crisp aftertaste. All in all, this is a quite bold, ample and well structured wine blend that in its current state lacks elegance and finesse on the palate – a wine that represents the perfect balance between the new world and the old world vinification styles. Taking into account the wine’s flavour profile and its structure, we believe it will pair lovely with rustic meats, like for example a peppercorn-crusted filet mignon with wild mushrooms and cognac sauce. Egészségére!

_________________________________________________________________________
© 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.