GITANA WINERY | La Petite Sophie | 2020
feteasca regala | chardonnay | riesling

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Today we are going to review a wine from the Valul lui Traian region of Moldova, that has acquired a legendary status over the last decade – La Petite Sophie 2020 by Gitana Winery. This is the winemaker’s flagship white wine – a blend of three grape varieties: chardonnay, feteasca regala and riesling, where chardonnay forms the wine’s main body and structure, feteasca regala brings floral hints to the foreground, while riesling adds up-front richness and the much desired freshness on the palate. What makes this wine special is the fact that it is partially oaked, as the chardonnay variety has been aged for 4 months in oak barrels in order to gain more texture and complexity, while the other two varieties have been left unoaked, so as to ad freshness and crispiness to the final blend. 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: pastel-yellow color
clarity: clear yellow hues

//Olfactory
intensity: powerful & elegant
fruit profile: sweet fruits | citrus fruits | stone fruits 
__sweet fruits: quince | yellow pear | dried quince | dried pear | pineapple
__citrus fruits: lemon peel
__stone fruits: apricot | white peach
fruit character: overripe & dehydrated

//Flavor
non fruit: floral | herbal | oak | sweet | other
__floral: marguerite daisy | honeysuckle
__herbal: hay | straw grass
__oak: vanilla
__sweet: raisins | quince jam | pollen & propolis
__other: hints of petroleum & rubber 
primary layer: fruit | sweet

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

//Taste
fruit profile: sweet fruits & stone fruits
fruit character: overripe & dehydrated
non fruit: floral & sweet
finish: medium+
aftertaste: crisp & appealingly-seedy

//Scoring
GITANA WINERY | La Petite Sophie | 2020
variety: feteasca regala | chardonnay | riesling
country: Moldova
region: Valul lui Traian
rating: 93.5

//Conclusion
maturity: developing | drink now or in the next 3-4 years
verdict: great | a must try wine
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This is definitely a great wine of Moldova and with a total of 93.5 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 complex and structured wine blend that feels bold, firm and ripe, with nuanced notes of dehydrated fruits on the nose and a pleasantly-seedy palate. The wine is still in its development phase, therefore we would recommend to drink it today or in the next 3 to 4 years, just make sure you don’t miss the wine’s apogée, 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 overripe and dried sweet fruits and stone fruits in the foreground, supported by some very nuanced, jammy-honeyed notes in the background and a subtle floral layer in between. On the palate the wine delivers mouth-watering acidity and an overwhelming touch of alcoholic warmth that is showing through on the mouthfeel, which evolves into a appealingly-seedy aftertaste. All in all, this a rich and well structured wine blend, that in its current state lacks maybe just a bit of finesse and elegance on the palate. We believe this wine will pair nicely with creamy garlic penne pasta or tropical mango and lime salad. Cheers!

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