Great to see a Moldavian wine in the mix. Nocturne line should be a bit better but can't complain. Liked the Quick shot of Gogu and Novak. You rated that wine quite high, actually. Because I have access to them, for babeasca neagra I would say Fautor, Novak, Unicorn and La Sapata. Keep up the good work! :)

@drmatthewhorkey

Жыл бұрын

The Fautor one made it in a previous video a few months ago ;)

I was waiting with eager for a blind testing with moldavian wine. And there it is. Thank you. A subscriber from Moldova :)

@drmatthewhorkey

Жыл бұрын

Noroc!

Another great video and cool geeky grapes. Mencia from Spain is pretty good stuff, had one from Bierzo late last year. It was an interesting combination of black fruit, vegetal notes and earthiness. But it's rather rare here in this market (Taiwan) , but I am eager to try more. As for Moldovan wine, there are one or two importers here. But I only sometimes see them at the wine expos/fairs here, and I didn't see them last year. 😞 Hopefully this year I will get to taste some. 🙂 BTW, it's nice to see a wine critic, KZreadr, etc do his/her/their best to pronounce varietal/cultivars properly; kudos. As someone who is fascinated by languages, it's a bit disappointing when some people in the wine industry don't make any effort to pronounce varietals correctly. Though as you've mentioned, it's pretty difficult to get them all right. I think the key is trying to get it right and learn as you go, rather than just not bothering at all.

@drmatthewhorkey

Жыл бұрын

How many languages do you speak BTW? My favorite sounding grapes are the proper pronunciations of French grapes like Roussanne and Grenache but I can’t get the soft R correct hahaha

What I love most about being enthusiastic about wine is trying something new and especially being impressed by something completely unexpected. Haven’t tasted these wines, but was recently introduced to Campania wines and the mighty Aglianico grape and I am so grateful for that experience. 💪

@drmatthewhorkey

Жыл бұрын

Niceeee, There’s a reason Aglianico is one of Italy’s greatest grapes!

@mgbbdk

Жыл бұрын

@@drmatthewhorkey thank God I found out. Sooo much Value for money. 😜

Have tried mencia!! Some great value with those wines but definitely benefits from being eaten with food

@drmatthewhorkey

Жыл бұрын

Yes the tannins can be chewy!

Great value for money in Portugal also ! And regions like Languedoc in France

@drmatthewhorkey

Жыл бұрын

Agreed!! Fabiiiiiennnnnn

The only wine I have tasted from Moldova so far was a white blend of Riesling and Fetasca Regala, but I have tasted Mencia, the entry level Raul Perez, and it was very smoky with lots of baking spice!

@drmatthewhorkey

14 күн бұрын

Ahh was it from Fautor winery?

@LadyAceRoxy

14 күн бұрын

@@drmatthewhorkey it actually was not! It was Chateau Vartely, Individo, and I had it 4 years ago.

@drmatthewhorkey

14 күн бұрын

Nicee! I’ve been there

It's around $10 in Moldova. Already on the 2021 vintage here as well. I never really liked the one from Purcari. Did you try the Pripa Rara Neagra when you visited? The 2017 was very good.

@drmatthewhorkey

Жыл бұрын

Didn't try the Pripa!

I stayed two months in Moldova around ten years ago and drank wine literally every day. My favourite grape was Rară Neagră but I mostly had another producer, can't remember which one though. I ordered some bottles from Purcari last year (14€ in Germany) and it didn't live up to my memory of it but it really is something different drinking it in the country of origin. Could also have been that I liked the other producer better, who knows? And yes, the prices in Moldova are amazing. Mencía is definitely one of my favourite red grapes, finished a bottle of Lalama (Dominio do Bibei) earlier today. Stunning!

@drmatthewhorkey

Жыл бұрын

What were you doing in Moldova?

@mikaelplaysguitar

Жыл бұрын

@@drmatthewhorkey Field work for my Master thesis in hydrology/aquatic ecology.

@drmatthewhorkey

Жыл бұрын

Wow

@johns2262

Жыл бұрын

You get variations vintage to vintage. Especially since Purcari also buy grapes on the general market to make wine with in addition to what they grow themselves. Recently they also started to release wines quite soon after finishing. So, it used to be that a Negru de Purcari would stay 18 months in oak, presumably then stay in INOX for some months after (they were bottled much longer than the oak time) and then they would bottle age it a little as well. Now they bottle straight from oak and release on the market within a month. Negru needs around 2-3 years of age after finishing the oak on it to become something special. The current one in the market is from 2020. I drank a 2017 a couple of days ago and it was beautiful. Not too many people are willing to store a wine for so many years to get something good, though.

@mikaelplaysguitar

Жыл бұрын

@@johns2262 I have a 2017 Negru de Purcari waiting to be opened, so reading your comment makes me look forward to it.

These grapes are not in a run-of-the-mill wine shop. I have had the Mencia from Losada from Bierzo, Spain. I tasted the 2015 Feteasca Neagra "La Putere" from Romania which is a sort of stand in for Cabernet. I can not recall anything from Moldava that I have ever tasted.

@drmatthewhorkey

Жыл бұрын

Definitely more geeky wines ahhaha

Interessting. I have never had a wine from moldovia. I like to try but i have never seen one where i live. I dont know if you can get it here. I have tried few wines from mencia grape but havent been impressed so far. Maybe i should try again.

@drmatthewhorkey

Жыл бұрын

Quality of Mencia can vary. Palacios makes an entry level, good, and well available one.

I'm a simple man, I see Chateau Purcari, I assume it's awesome. Also, you should definitely dive into Georgia.

@drmatthewhorkey

Жыл бұрын

That’s where my professional wine career started. I ve spent many months there and will be going back this year

in seoul, matilda nieves, petalos of a.palacios are well known. it's not hard to find vinos from bierzo.

@drmatthewhorkey

Жыл бұрын

Ahhhh good to know there is a solid selection there!

I LOVE your videos, they are informative, sometimes fun and always great but.... the music in the back doesn't ad a thing. Your voice is music enough.

@drmatthewhorkey

Жыл бұрын

Noted. I shot this a while ago and have worked to turn background music down. It is a little necessary to dull out the sound of low level noise from the mic/cables

Mencia high on tannins good flavor not for everybody, I recomend for you the Mencia from Bierzo the zone of the Rapolao before go high on prices Raul Perez are doing a great job there

@drmatthewhorkey

Жыл бұрын

I LOVE the wines from Raul Perez

There was a planting of Mencia at Silvaspoons Vineyards here in Lodi a number of years ago. I'm pretty sure there have been a few bottlings, but haven't tried them yet. Cheers!

@JonBLodi

Жыл бұрын

And extra points for the authentic pronunciation of Mencia!

@drmatthewhorkey

Жыл бұрын

Hahahahha thanks!

@drmatthewhorkey

Жыл бұрын

Ohhhh that would be interesting. I love tasting odd varieties in California

Recently in Moldova there has been a boom in Rara Neagra, but Chateau Purcari with this baseline product set the trend and they're done a fantastic job. Now there are a new product that incorporates the Rara Neagra focus (Nocturne - with night picking technics) or super-premium Academia with ageing in amphoras. The problem here is the lack of distribution and infrastructure (in transit Romania) to bring these wines at decent prices (5€ to17-18€) to Core Europe markets & hubs and the world.

@drmatthewhorkey

Жыл бұрын

There are a lot of problems, it's unfortunate because there are some wonderful wines being made there!

Have a couple of bottles of the negru de purcari, but I just found out that I can buy the Neagra for under 13 Euros. Will also be buying the rest of the Purcaris to see how well the rest tastes. Cheers!

@drmatthewhorkey

Жыл бұрын

The Negru and Rosu need age IMO. They are oaky young

@robdielemans9189

Жыл бұрын

@@drmatthewhorkey I agree I drank a 2018 couple of weeks ago and it was good but a thought popped in my head: wouldn't this be better after some ageing

Galician Mencia are fabulous! Guimaro and Telmo Rodriguez are my favs.

@drmatthewhorkey

Жыл бұрын

Ahhh good call!

How do you feel about Wine King's recent comments that wine from Eastern European countries is to be avoided (he specifically mentioned Slovenia and Moldova) as there are no quality wines to be found from those countries?

@drmatthewhorkey

Жыл бұрын

If you watch the channel, you know my stance hahaha. There are OUTSTANDING wines being made in lesser known countries in Europe

@johns2262

Жыл бұрын

I live in Moldova and there are good wines to be had. However, there are also lots of wines to be avoided, particularly the sub $4 range.

@drmatthewhorkey

Жыл бұрын

In past videos, I spoke often about the quality of wines at the top end in Moldova... Some very good stuff there

@GarthScholtz

Жыл бұрын

@@drmatthewhorkey I was quite surprised that he made such a bold generalisation. I'm sure with a bit of street wise shopping you can get a few bargains.

@johns2262

Жыл бұрын

@@GarthScholtz Not sure about bargains for people abroad🙂The wines tend to double in price outside of Moldova. So when you take some of the top tier wines, selling between 15-35 euros locally, you can suddenly start paying 30 to 70 euros and in that bracket there is a lot of competition from all over the World.

Never so much as *heard* of them, never mind tasted them! 😅 I have tasted Frontenac Gris, how about you??

@drmatthewhorkey

Жыл бұрын

Hahahah nope

In Moldova Purcari Rara Neagra 2020 is 5 EUR

@drmatthewhorkey

Жыл бұрын

Yes it’s quite a bit cheaper there!

Galicia, don Mateo

@drmatthewhorkey

Жыл бұрын

Gracias

I had that pucari bottle...its ok..

@drmatthewhorkey

Жыл бұрын

For me, it showed really well. I even drank the sample at dinner (I don’t finish samples so to me that said something)

That Abadía da Cova is actually not that special and Mencia can offer way more than that in lighter styles or blended with Tempranillo. Alone often lacks acidity for my taste. For what tiny Galicia is it has a lot of red grape varieties really interesting like Brancellao, Merenzao, Sousón, Caiño Longo, Espadeiro, etc. Galicia its a hidden gem and its more than Albariño.

@drmatthewhorkey

Жыл бұрын

Agree on the latter point. I’m a big fan of Galacian wines