MEZALIMPE | Riesling | 2020
riesling

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Today we are going to review a single-varietal riesling wine that comes from the famous Stefan-Voda region in the south of Moldova – Riesling 2020 by Mezalimpe. Riesling must be the world’s most misunderstood grape variety, as the resulting wines are unlike any others – light in alcohol, high in natural acidity, with the ability to transmit the terrior through its extract and unique aromas and, what makes it stand out from the crowd, riesling wines are capable of ageing for decades. Relative to other internationally grape varieties, riesling ripens quite early, so when planted in a hot climate its juice can be overripe and flabby, while in a cool climate it has the chance to stay on the vine late into the autumn, hence the german obsession with late harvest riesling wines. This particular wine is signed by the oenologist Anatolie Iurco, who applied the Cryo-Maceration technique (also known as ‘cold maceration‘), which is quite unusual in the vinification of a white wine, as it is a technique used to improve the extraction of color, flavor, and tannin from the skins of grapes, thus mostly used in the vinification of red wines. But enough theory, 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: pale pastel yellow color
clarity: clear yellow hues on the rim

//Olfactory
intensity: powerful & leesy
fruit profile: sour fruits | green fruits | citrus fruits
__sour fruits: sour apple | sour watermelon
__green fruits: green apple | wild pear | green apricot
__citrus fruits: lemon | green grapefruit | kiwi
fruit character: underripe & ripe

//Flavor
non fruit: yeasty & lactic
__yeasty & lactic: cream | bisquit | dough | homemade butter | yogurt | bread crust | yeast
primary layer: yeasty & lactic

//Palate
sweetness: dry
acidity: high
alcohol: high
tannin: medium-
__grip: seedy
balance: good
__dominant: acidity
body: supple | medium

//Taste
fruit profile: green fruits & citrus fruits
fruit character: underripe
non fruit: yeasty & lactic
finish: medium
aftertaste: crisp

//Scoring
MEZALIMPE | Riesling | 2020
variety: riesling
country: Moldova
region: Stefan Voda
rating: 91.8

//Conclusion
maturity: developing | needs more time
verdict: fine | highly recommended
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This is definitely a fine wine of Moldova and with a total of 91.8 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 very crisp and slightly tart riesling wine that feels lean, supple and quite refreshing, with nuanced yeasty-lactic hints on the nose and a sour-tart palate. The wine is still in its development phase, therefore we would recommend to give it 2 or 3 more years of bottle ageing, as the post cryo-maceration effects are yet too sharp and rough at the moment, thus the wine requires a bit of time to round up its edges. On the nose the wine displays a mixture of underripe and ripe citrus, green fruits and sour fruits in the foreground, followed by very nuanced, yeasty and lactic notes in the background. On the palate the wine delivers exuberant acidity, a touch of seedy tannins and some nuanced alcoholic warmth that is showing through on the mouthfeel, which evolves into a crispy-sour aftertaste. All in all, this a fair and nicely structured riesling wine of decent complexity – a wine that in its current state lacks harmony, finesse and some varietal typicity of the riesling grape variety. In order to counter-balance all the acidity and sharp edges in the wine, we would suggest to pair it with creamy dishes, like for example creamy garlic penne pasta. Cheers!

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