Andrei Pripa brought his wines out for the first time at the ExpoVin Moldova exhibition in 2018 putting them in the centre of attention despite their temporary labels. The names of the wines were written by hand. Many participants of the exhibitions were whispering about this new guy at the small producers stand with exceptional Rara Neagră and Feteasca Neagră, and they rushed to taste it. That was also the time when his Feteasca Neagră, of the first 2016 vintage, of the young vineyard, won its first golden medal in the Black Sea Region Wine & Spirits Contest` 2018 competition under this exhibition. That’s how the big way started for the small wine producer Teba Prim Ltd.
In the famous microzone
It was a nice choice of land for the vineyards – in the village of Purcari, on a slope with south-east exposure in Purcari, looking onto the Dniester flowing in just a few hundred meters towards its firth. The soil is reach in sand, clay and shell. The firth gives most of the warm air. The vineyard often enjoys the salty air from the Black Sea. The first 10 ha of vineyards were founded in 2014 and were complemented further on. Spacings between rows are filled with grass causing stress in vines. The soft climate and soils favor good ripening of the vines and fast accumulation of sugar, for this reason “Domeniile Pripa” wines usually have high alcohol levels.
As long as the planned production capacities are not achieved, the winery sells a part of the harvest. Thus, the wines are produced only form own grapes in a small winery built in Chisinau. In the meantime, the old buildings and the cellar in the Purcari winery dating back from around 1840 are being reconstructed. The archive research has not been finalized yet so it might well be that these are even older.
The labels tell that the wines are matured in barrels from Moldovan oak (quite infrequent for local wines).
I thought that since Rara Neagră and Feteasca Neagră are local varieties, why not trying to let them age in Moldovan oak? – says Andrei Pripa. – Besides, we have another business where we process wood, so we have a lot of oak passing through our hands. We bucked round wood aged 70-90 years ourselves and used it for our barrels. Saperavi also got through such barrels to impart some Moldovan flavour to it».
The Domeniile Pripa wines are uncommon due to their soft pressing using a manual winepress, unlike the usual industrial presses. The must is fermenting in stainless steel tanks. Then the wines go to barrels for maturation. Also, in barrels the wines pass through malolactic fermentation.
Altogether, of the 2017 harvest (Rara Neagră, Feteasca Neagră and Saperavi), 7.5
thousand bottles were produced. The least of it was Saperavi. All
the wines were bottled in April, spending half a year of bottle maturation at this point.
Domeniile Pripa Rara Neagră 2017
The wines matured in oak barrels over 12 months. Alcohol content – 13.8%.
The color of Rara Neagră 2017 is ruby. First nose – ripe berry and oak aroma. The wine leaves “legs” on the glass. Aroma – plum-led, earthy. I would call this wine a puzzle wine as its oxygenation (about 20-30 minutes) reveals absolutely different aromas – sweet vanilla, fresh cherry, confiture, “Cherry in chocolate” sweets. In essence, after one hour spent in the glass the wine became more elegant: I found in it the aromas of dry fallen leaves in a forest (not rotten). So, this wine should better be decanted beforhand.
It is a medium bodied wine, closer to light with joyful acidity. In flavor – tinges of black chocolate, coffee finish.
I should note that if you are not a fan of pronounced oaky wines, then it is not your wine. It will delight the fans of aged wines.
Rara Neagră 2017 won the silver medal of the Mundus Vini Summer Tasting` 2019 (Germany).
Domeniile Pripa Feteasca Neagră 2017
The wine was oak-barrel aged for 12 months. The color is dark-ruby. First nose: black wild berries. The aroma opens smoky dried plum, cinnamon, black pepper, chokeberry. This wine is rich in spices. Next wave brought the aromas of nutmeg, some laurel leaf and cherries.
Flavour: wild black cherry and chokeberry. Finish: black chocolate. Strength – 14.6%. Feteasca Neagră 2017 from Teba Prim is a good, typical example of an aged Feteasca Neagră.
This wine got the golden medal at the Mundus Vini Summer Tasting` 2019 competition. The earlier, 2016 vintage got the bronze.
At the recent Good Wine exhibition in Bucharest many said that Feteasca Neagră from Andrei Pripa is the best of this variety at the exhibition.
Domeniile Pripa Saperavi 2017
Oak aged 14 months. The wine has deep crimson color and a bright rim. First nose – black berries and fruit. It leaves fancy legs on the glass.
A rich and interesting aroma with fresh plum (have not spotted yet the oak), black air-dried cherry, broken pomegranate. A while later, appear tints of slightly dried plum, fresh currant, blackberry, black cherry stone, cheesy notes, tree bark, sweetness of overripe black berries. An hour later, the tinges of noble leather. It is better to decant it if you do not want to wait so long. The emptied glass smells sweet with sweet spices.
In taste: cherry and milk chocolate. Silky texture, soft, ripe tannins. Astringency is very light, almost none. Finish – cacao. The barrel aging mostly manifests itself in the taste flavors than in the aroma. Normally, Saperavi wines are quite robust, yet this one has a muchly lighter body that could be expected. It is quite smooth. Andrei Pripa explains it by light soils on the vineyard.
Saperavi 2017 made mark at Mundus Vini Summer Tasting` 2019, where it not only got the golden medal, but was also recognized as the best Moldovan wine and nominated as the Best of show Moldova.
It could all take much longer
However, the wines of this producer could have seen the market much later if not for the support of the Moldova Competitiveness Project funded by USAID and the Government of Sweden.
Basically, we came out to the market thanks to the Project, after we got noticed, its specialist insisted on bottling the wine of 2016 vintage – says Andrei Pripa. – They, so to say, pushed us and we started rolling. We got a very generous support. Teba Prim purchased 18 stainless steel tanks of various capacity under the grant program. As our enterprise is a member of the Small Producers Association, we can enjoy all the equipment transferred thereto by the Moldova Competitiveness Project – mobile bottling line, labelling, packaging and capping equipment. Thanks to the donors, we started cooperating with the Imago agency in developing the label. We put emphasis on the variety (since this is an unblended wine), and not on the brand, to make it easier for consumers when they are looking for wine of a certain variety. Despite the simplicity, the label catches the eye and is quite readable.
Besides that, we were also assisted with the design of the winery. Next year we are going to lay the communications. We primarily focused on the establishing the production capacities to transfer faster the grape processing to Purcari. And in 2021, we will probably be able to also welcome tourists. One of the buildings will have a small hotel and a tasting room. It is a beautiful place. You can enjoy the view of the vineyard sitting on the terrace”.
Where to buy?
At winerooms Invino, Taste of Blu, Casa Daca, La Nobilta Del Gusto.
At the Beef meat & wine, Entourage restaurants.
