Monday, April 18, 2011

2009 Castle Rock by Cramele Recas Cabernet Sauvignon, Romania


Color – Ruby red

Nose – Black currant, blackberry, flowers

Taste – On first sip, I didn’t think I was going to like this wine. It seemed a little “candy-like” or “chemically”, but I let the wine decant a little and then tried another glass, and that’s when the wine really showed its true colors. This is a great wine. It’s quite complex coming from an 8 dollar bottle; in fact, it might be the most complex bottle I’ve tasted at this price point. The initial flavors are full of black currant, chocolate and flowers; these quickly fade into a mid-palate of perfect alcohol balanced with nice smooth tannins and raspberry hints. The finish is nice and long with flavors of plum, bittersweet chocolate, coffee and pepper. This has some interesting heat to it; the heat doesn’t show up until the tail end of the finish and it feels more like actual pepper heat rather than alcohol heat. Interesting enough this wine is more medium bodied rather than full bodied; from the nose and color I would have expected something “heavier” than that, but it’s still very good. I would say this wine is one of the better that I’ve tasted at the 8 dollar price point. I didn’t expect much from this wine, and it blew my socks off. I was expecting mediocre at best, but this actually has some depth and character to it. Don’t be surprised to find this in my cellar if you come for a visit.

Overall, I would classify this as a great buy for 8 dollars and a great QPR. Make sure you decant the wine for an hour or so, otherwise be prepared for something that tastes more like cherry cough syrup than wine. I would recommend this for any occasion; it’s a rather well rounded wine. You can’t go wrong if you enjoy Cabs with some definite depth to them. This one is a gem at 8 dollars, get some for your cellar now!

Recas Wines

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