Choose One!

“Scrie pe Vin2.ro” povești trăite de oameni care iubesc vinul. Astăzi îl avem invitat pe Gian Luca Garattoni. Italian din Bologna și carea a trăit ani buni în Finlanda, Gian Luca s-a stabilit de curând in Serbia, devenind un bun cunsoscator al vinurilor din Balcani, urmând să lanseze un blog de vinuri și călătorii. Este un activ membru al comunitații winelover și un bun prieten al vinurilor românești.

—-From November 19^th,till November 22^nd 2018, I’ve been among the four lucky people who took part to the Dealu Mare Tour organized by Winelover.ro, the remaining three are famous among the world’s wine lovers: Sharon Parsons, Nanci Bergamo and Luiz Alberto. Our guide was Razvan Stoenescu.
—I was very pleased when Razvan asked me for a brief story about a wine which particularly impressed me, but embarrassed at the same time: we visited nine wineries, had so many excellent wines, quite a few really awesome, yet I had to choose ONE!
Finally I made up my mind: an incredible white blend (more precisely a coupage) by the amazing Lacerta Winery, the “Cuvée X “, please read the “X” as a Roman  number, “ten”.
—In fact it’s since the vintage 2010, that this wine is made, to match the red “Cuvée IX” which was created a year  before.
We tasted the vintage 2015: Cuvée X is a coupage of five varieties: Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Rhine Riesling, Fetească Albă and Chardonnay, barrel fermented, but doesn’t go through the malolactic fermentation. White wine from Dealu Mare? Yes,  an Supermuntenian white wine!
—Already from the first nose impression I had the feeling to be in front of a really big wine, a complexity of aromas, getting richer after each minute of aeration. As for the varietal characters I could detect the yellow apple of Fetească Albă and the structure of Pinot Gris, but, I have to admit, this was after that our host, assistant oenologist Mihaela Oprea, told us the composition of the blend. I generally consider a plus when the single varieties of a cuvée aren’t easy to spot, that’s what the experience and craftsmanship of the winemaker is about, what you have in the glass is what matters most, at least in my view.The wine showed a perfect balance, not the slightest sign of dullness, overripeness, nor excessive alcohol content, characteristics of a hot summer (but the 2015 was really hot), and also in mouth you could feel the yellow fruit, but also some spiciness and salinity. The finish was extremely long, like a story that seems to never end. I can tell that Lacerta puts all its care in every aspect of winemaking, from pruning to bottling.
—Together with a perfect knowledge of its soils and vines plus the fact that Dealu Mare is particularly blessed for wine production they achieve world class results, Cuvée X, wasn’t at all the only awesome wine I tasted that morning !
—I want to heartly thank all the wineries which hosted us and, of course, Razvan.