RECAS | Cuvee Überland | 2019
cabernet sauvignon | merlot

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Today we are going to review a Bordeaux-styled blend from Recas vineyards in Banat wine region of Romania – Cuvee Überland 2019 by Cramele Recaș. This is the winemaker’s flagship red wine – a blend of cabernet sauvignon and merlot grape varieties, where cabernet sauvignon forms the wine’s main body and structure, while merlot adds up-front richness and rounds up the final blend, delivering some much desired smoothness on the finish. This is in fact the world’s most famous wine blending formula for red wines, where cabernet sauvignon is softened by merlot on the mid-palate, while merlot is enriched by cabernet sauvignon in terms of flavours, color and tannin. This wine is vinified in a classic Bordeaux-style, aged between 10 and 12 months in new, french oak barriques (Dargeaux & Jaegle) in order to soften the tannins and add extra complexity to the final blend. But enough with all that theory, that said and without further ado, let’s take a look at the wine tasting results.
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Take a look at the tasting notes below and our detailed assessment of the wine:

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

//Olfactory
intensity: powerful & expressive
fruit profile: black fruits
__black fruits: black cherry | black plum | blackcurrant | aronia berry | black currant jam 
fruit character: overripe

//Flavor
non fruit: spice | oak | earth | other
__spice: peppercorn | tonka seeds
__oak: liquorice | roasted oakwood | tobacco | charred wood
__earth: charcoal | pencil lead
__other: mint | thyme | new leather | varnish
primary layer: fruit & oak

//Palate
sweetness: dry
acidity: high
alcohol: medium+
tannin: high
__grip: astringent
balance: good
__dominant: acidity
body: plump | medium+

//Taste
fruit profile: black fruits
fruit character: ripe & overripe
non fruit: spice & oak
finish: medium-
aftertaste: crisp & tart

//Scoring
RECAS | Cuvee Überland | 2019
variety: cabernet sauvignon | merlot
country: Romania | Banat
region: Recas | Recaș-Timiș
rating: 92.9

//Conclusion
maturity: youthful – needs time | age for 3 to 5 more years
verdict: fine | highly recommended
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This is definitely a fine wine of Romania and, with a total of 92.9 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, youthful and slightly tart wine blend, with a nuanced fruity-oaky accent on the nose and an ample mouthfeel. It is still in the development phase, therefore we would recommend to give it at least 3 to 5 more years of bottle ageing, in order to allow the wine to reach its full potential, just make sure you don’t overdo it, as it is always better to drink a wine a year too soon than a day too late. On the nose the wine brings a mixture of overripe black fruits and a nuanced oaky accent in the foreground, followed by an appealingly spicy background and a very subtle, earthy layer in between the two. On the palate the wine delivers overwhelming acidity, astringent and grippy tannins and a touch of alcoholic warmth that is showing through on the mouthfeel, which leads to a crisp and slightly tart aftertaste. All in all, this is a firm, slightly angular but well structured wine blend with a very good ageing potential – a wine that in its current state lacks harmony and finesse on the palate. We believe it will pair nicely with spicy or grilled meats, like for example a peppercorn-crusted tomahawk steak or a rosemary-garlic flank steak. Cheers!

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