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ASCONI Sol Negru | Cabernet-Sauvignon | 2016 grape: | cabernet sauvignon |... region: Moldova | Codru overall rating: | 88.0 | conclusion: good | recommended Visual The wine has a clear ruby color, it is quite opaque and a bit hazy, with the rim-color of a very nuanced garnet shade. Olfactory The nose is rich with no signs of wine faults. The first nose brings delicate mix of red fruits and fruit jam: sour cherry, moist wood, red plum, wormwood, red currant, raspberry, violets, red currant and strawberry jam. Gustatory The wine is medium-dry and wide, with some hints of residual sugar left after fermentation. With high alcohol level and high acidity, the wine tastes jammy and opulent we would describe it as seedy and fruit-forward. Medium tannin level sums up for a fair overall balance, which makes the wine taste crisp and a bit oxidated, maybe even lean and flabby. The one word that would describe this wine is ’round’. Aftertaste The wine has a medium and quite balanced finish, tending more towards the bitter side of the taste spectrum, with a savory, leathery feeling towards the end. Last but not least, we would like to mention that this is still a quite friendly wine overall, one that can satisfy the taste of a wide range of consumers, and, which is more important, a wine that is a very good pairing partner for a wider range of foods. What it may lack in character, it gains in flexibility, as the more nuanced a wine is, the fewer food pairing options it gets. Also worth mentioning is that fact, that this wine has bee awarded a bronze medal by International Wine & Spirit Competition and a commended accolade by Decanter World Wine Awards two of the world’s leading wine tasting competitions. This is a wine made of grapes that grew on legendary, authentic black soil of Moldova, a soil so rare that it sums up for less than 2% of the world’s total a fact we can be proud of. Available in US

#Sometimes all you need is #wine and pizza

Republic of Moldova is the undisputable leader among Eastern Europe's wine-producing countries. Turning its wines into gold, Moldova with a winemaking tradition dating to 5000 BC, have long had a reputation for quality vintages. Two-thirds of Moldovan wineries are able to produce vintages that meet a European authenticity standard known as Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), which means their origin in a particular region and quality can be guaranteed.... A key reason for Moldovan wines' uniqueness is that 10 percent of the country's vineyards produce varieties that originated in Moldova. They include Feteasca Neagra, Feteasca Alba, Feteasca Regala, Rara Neagra, Viorica, plus blends of these varieties and international grapes. Discover Moldova through its wines Asconi Winery

Asconi Winery Sol Negru Cabernet Sauvignon Region:Codru Country:Moldova Award: Best in Show at Decanter 2020 Score: 97... Color: Rosé Style: Still - Dry (below 5 g/L residual sugar) Alcohol level: 13.5% Grape composition: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon Tasting notes: Moldova's second success in Decanter Best In Show selection last year is a top-value rosé wine which impressed the judges on multiple fronts. In colour, first of all: the soft petal pink is magnetic. It's sweet scented but without anything cloying to it, and the flavours are just deep enough to provide a fix of focussed pleasure, but not so deep as to efface the essential drinkability of this ever-more-popular wine style. This is not easy to pull off using naturally assertive Cabernet Sauvignon grapes; the winemaking team here has judged it perfectly. There is just a little barely palpable sweetness on the palate which adds to the overall tenderness, yet a brightly rounded acidity keeps everything fresh. Available in New York [email protected] 5145600907

Sol Negru Malbec 2016 by Asconi Winery. Famous for its plump, dark fruit flavors and smoky finish, malbec wines have been adored for many centuries for their elegance and finesse. Malbec typically produces wines that are deep in color, with full-body and high tannins, wines that usually responds well to oak ageing and are a great alternative to the higher priced cabernet sauvignon or merlot wines. But let’s skip all that theory and, without further ado let’s move on, straight... to the tasting! ________________________________________ Take a look at the tasting notes below and our detailed assessment of the wine: Visual Pale but noble ruby color with deep, pomegranate shades towards the rim of the glass. Olfactory The nose is strong, filled mostly with red and black fruit flavours: blackcurrant, ripe blackberry, ripe sour cherry, black soil dust, black plum, ripe black mulberry, dried black plum, dried plum, dried black cherry, cherry tree wood and delicate hints of cherry tree sap. An instant later the nose is filled with notes of red and black pepper, nutmeg, cloves, tobacco and some subtle hints of walnuts. Gustatory The wine is dry, with high alcohol level, high acidity and overripe tannins. It feels seedy, supple and tart, with an overripe tannic grip on the mouthfeel and an acrid-spicy, a bit angular finale. This is a quite fruity, nuanced and opulent malbec wine, that tastes a bit bitter yet quite noble, with overwhelming acidity and a touch of alcoholic warmth on the palate. Overall the wine is a bit off its balance, as it lacks harmony and finesse. #Conclusion: this is a quite opulent and tart Malbec wine a bit fruity, a bit spicy but definitely angular a wine that is still too young at the moment. It requires at least a couple more years of bottle ageing in order to smoothen its edges and develop some much desired elegance. That said, it is of important to understand a wine’s limits: there are wines that might gain some much desired finesse with age, yet there are also wines that are elegant enough in their yearly stages and age will only take its toll on them. We have always said that it is always better to drink a wine a year too soon than a day too late. With overwhelming acidity and seedy tannins, we would recommend to pair this wine with fat-rich meats, especially those with highlighted smoky/barbecued flavours, like for example a grilled sirloin steak with tomato basil sauce or a simple grilled t-bone steak, so that all the edges in the wine will be countered by the smokiness of the dish. Noroc! WineStatistics tasting results: ASCONI Sol Negru | Malbec | 2016 grape: | malbec | region: Moldova | Codru overall rating: | 90.6 | maturity: on the rise conclusion: fine | (highly recommended)