A.GERE | Attila | Villányi Cuvée | 2015
cabernet franc | merlot | cabernet sauvignon

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 an icon wine from Hungary‘s most famous wine region for red wines – the famous Villány – Attila Villányi Cuvée 2015 by Gere Attila Winery. This wine is the winemaker’s flagship cuvée – a classic, old world Bordeaux blend made only in the very best vintages – a wine that is rightfully considered to be a reference point for many other hungarian reds. Attila is a blend of Villány‘s main three grape varieties: 50% cabernet franc, 35% merlot and 15% cabernet sauvignon, with each variety sourced from the estate’s best vineyards in Konkoly, Kopár and Ördögárok, where cabernet franc forms the wine’s main body and structure, delivering local terroir notes to the forefront, merlot adds up-front richness and a more refined mid-palate, while cabernet sauvignon enhances the wine’s structure and builds a slightly more dynamic finish. In order to preserve the varietal characteristics of the three grape varieties, this wine has been fermented using only selected, indigenous yeast strains, afterwards a part of the blend has been aged for 16 months in new, 300-litre Zemplén hungarian oak barriques, while the other part of the blend has been aged in big, seasoned oak barrels (10 hl), with some additional bottle ageing before it was deemed ready for release on the market. But enough with all that theory, 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: medium-deep garnet color
clarity: hazy and elegant copper shades

//Olfactory
intensity: pronounced & noble-savory
fruit profile: red fruits | dried fruits
__red fruits: redcurrant | cranberry | red plum | pomegranate | rose hips
__dried fruits: dried cranberry | dried red plum | dried olive
fruit character: ripe & dehydrated

//Flavor
non fruit: oak | earth | savory
__oak: rooibos tea | sun-dried oakwood | cloves | anise | tobacco
__earth: clay | loam | marl | brick dust
__savory: brown olive | farmyard | old leather
primary layer: fruity-savory

//Palate
sweetness: bone dry
acidity: high
alcohol: high
tannin: high
__grip: silky
balance: fine
__dominant: none
body: ample | medium+

//Taste
fruit profile: red fruits
fruit character: dehydrated
non fruit: savory-earthy
finish: long
aftertaste: velvety-seedy

//Scoring
A.GERE | Attila | Villányi Cuvée | 2015
variety: cabernet franc | merlot | cabernet sauvignon
country: Hungary
region: Villány
rating: 96.2

//Conclusion
maturity: in its prime | drink now or within the next 2 years
verdict: exceptional | simply epic | a wine that can reach into the realm of perfection

//Prediction
predicted RP rating: 92

_________________________________________________________________________

This is definitely an exceptional wine of Hungary and, with a total of 96.2 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 an outstanding Bordeaux-styled wine blend and definitely one of the best we’ve tasted so far: velvety, crisp and pleasantly seedy, with an elegant nose and a voluptuous palate. The wine is right there, at the summit of its prime form, therefore we would recommend to drink it sooner rather than later, preferably within the next 2 years, as it is always better to drink a wine a year too soon than a day too late. On the nose the wine displays a mixture of savory notes and nuanced ripe and dehydrated red fruits in the foreground, supported by a subtle, earthy and slightly oaky background. On the palate the wine delivers vibrant acidity, silky and fine-grained tannins and a well integrated alcoholic warmth that is showing through on the mouthfeel, which leads to an extremely appealing, velvety-seedy aftertaste. All in all this is a rich, delicate and complex wine that is mixing the power of warm climate-grown grape varieties with the delicate finesse of the Villány terroir. We do believe that this amazing wine will pair lovely with delicate meats that are rich in natural umami flavour, like for example Tournedos Rossini or a peppercorn filet mignon steak. 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.