{"id":13861,"date":"2020-01-21T17:39:02","date_gmt":"2020-01-21T17:39:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wine-and-spirits.md\/en\/?p=13861"},"modified":"2020-01-21T17:49:20","modified_gmt":"2020-01-21T17:49:20","slug":"domeniile-pripa-rara-neagra-feteasca-neagra-and-saperavi-vintage-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wine-and-spirits.md\/en\/domeniile-pripa-rara-neagra-feteasca-neagra-and-saperavi-vintage-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cDomeniile Pripa\u201d: Rara Neagr\u0103, Feteasca Neagr\u0103 and Saperavi, vintage 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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 Neagr\u0103 and Feteasca Neagr\u0103, and they rushed to taste it. That was also the time when his Feteasca Neagr\u0103, 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\u2019s how the big way started for the small wine producer <\/strong><\/em>Teba Prim<\/strong><\/em><\/a> Ltd.<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
In the famous microzone<\/strong><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

It was a nice choice of land for the vineyards \u2013\nin the village of Purcari, on a slope with south-east exposure in Purcari, looking\nonto the Dniester flowing in just a few hundred meters towards its firth. The\nsoil is reach in sand, clay and shell. The firth gives most of the warm\nair.  The vineyard often enjoys the salty\nair from the Black Sea. The first 10 ha of vineyards were founded in 2014\nand were complemented further on. Spacings between rows are filled with grass\ncausing stress in vines. The soft climate and soils favor good ripening of the\nvines and fast accumulation of sugar, for this reason \u201cDomeniile Pripa\u201d wines usually\nhave high alcohol levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As long as the planned production capacities are\nnot achieved, the winery sells a part of the harvest. Thus, the wines are\nproduced only form own grapes in a small winery built in Chisinau. In the\nmeantime, the old buildings and the cellar in the Purcari winery dating back\nfrom around 1840 are being reconstructed. The archive research has not been finalized\nyet so it might well be that these are even older.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The labels tell that the wines are matured in\nbarrels from Moldovan oak (quite infrequent for local wines).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I thought that since Rara Neagr\u0103 and Feteasca Neagr\u0103 are local varieties, why not trying to let them age in Moldovan oak? \u2013 says Andrei Pripa. \u2013 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\u00bb.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The Domeniile Pripa wines are uncommon due to\ntheir soft pressing using a manual winepress, unlike the usual industrial\npresses.  The must is fermenting in\nstainless steel tanks.  Then the wines go\nto barrels for maturation.  Also, in\nbarrels the wines pass through malolactic fermentation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Altogether, of the 2017 harvest (Rara Neagr\u0103, Feteasca Neagr\u0103 and Saperavi), 7.5\nthousand bottles were produced.  <\/del>The least of it was Saperavi. All\nthe wines were bottled in April, spending half a year of bottle maturation at this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Domeniile Pripa Rara Neagr\u0103 2017<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

The wines matured in oak barrels over 12 months.\nAlcohol content \u2013 13.8%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The color of Rara Neagr\u0103 2017 is ruby. First\nnose \u2013 ripe berry and oak aroma. The wine leaves \u201clegs\u201d on the glass. Aroma \u2013 plum-led,\nearthy. I would call this wine a puzzle wine as its oxygenation (about 20-30\nminutes) reveals absolutely different aromas \u2013 sweet vanilla, fresh cherry, confiture,\n\u201cCherry in chocolate\u201d sweets.  In\nessence, after one hour spent in the glass the wine became more elegant: I\nfound in it the aromas of dry fallen leaves in a forest (not rotten). So, this\nwine should better be decanted beforhand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a medium bodied wine, closer to light with\njoyful acidity. In flavor \u2013 tinges of black chocolate, coffee finish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I should note that if you are not a fan of pronounced\noaky wines, then it is not your wine.  It\nwill delight the fans of aged wines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rara Neagr\u0103 2017 won the silver medal of the Mundus\nVini Summer Tasting` 2019 (Germany).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Domeniile Pripa Feteasca Neagr\u0103 2017<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

The wine was oak-barrel aged for 12 months. The\ncolor is dark-ruby. First nose: black wild berries. The aroma opens smoky dried\nplum, cinnamon, black pepper, chokeberry.  This wine is rich in spices. Next wave brought\nthe aromas of nutmeg, some laurel leaf and cherries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Flavour: wild\nblack cherry and chokeberry. Finish: black chocolate. Strength \u2013 14.6%.  Feteasca Neagr\u0103 2017 from Teba Prim is a good, typical example of an\naged Feteasca Neagr\u0103.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This wine\ngot the golden medal at the Mundus Vini Summer Tasting`\n2019 competition.  The\nearlier, 2016 vintage got the bronze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the\nrecent Good Wine exhibition in Bucharest many said that Feteasca Neagr\u0103 from Andrei Pripa is the best of this variety at\nthe exhibition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Domeniile Pripa Saperavi 2017<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Oak aged 14 months. The wine has deep crimson color\nand a bright rim. First nose \u2013 black berries and fruit. It\nleaves fancy legs on the glass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

A rich\nand interesting aroma with fresh plum (have not spotted yet the oak), black\nair-dried cherry, broken pomegranate. A while later, appear tints of slightly\ndried plum, fresh currant, blackberry, black cherry stone, cheesy notes, tree\nbark, sweetness of overripe black berries. An hour later, the tinges of noble\nleather.  It is better to decant it if\nyou do not want to wait so long. The emptied glass smells sweet with sweet\nspices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In taste:\ncherry and milk chocolate. Silky texture, soft, ripe tannins.  Astringency is very light, almost none.  Finish \u2013 cacao. The barrel aging mostly\nmanifests itself in the taste flavors than in the aroma. Normally, Saperavi wines\nare quite robust, yet this one has a muchly lighter body that could be expected.\n It is quite smooth. Andrei Pripa\nexplains it by light soils on the vineyard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saperavi 2017 made mark\nat Mundus Vini Summer Tasting` 2019, where it not only got the golden\nmedal, but was also recognized as the best Moldovan wine and nominated as the Best\nof show Moldova.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It could all take much longer <\/strong><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

However, the wines of this producer could have\nseen the market much later if not for the support of the Moldova\nCompetitiveness Project funded by USAID and the Government of Sweden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 \u2013 says Andrei Pripa. \u2013 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 \u2013 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.<\/strong><\/p>

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\u201d.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Where to buy?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

At winerooms Invino, Taste of Blu, Casa Daca, La\nNobilta Del Gusto.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the Beef meat & wine, Entourage\nrestaurants.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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