{"id":13892,"date":"2020-01-29T16:19:29","date_gmt":"2020-01-29T16:19:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wine-and-spirits.md\/en\/?p=13892"},"modified":"2020-01-29T16:35:37","modified_gmt":"2020-01-29T16:35:37","slug":"kara-gani-poured-their-best-wines-into-ciotras","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wine-and-spirits.md\/en\/kara-gani-poured-their-best-wines-into-ciotras\/","title":{"rendered":"Kara Gani poured their best wines into Ciotras"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The small producer, who grew out of home winemaking, reached the creation of a second series of wines, calling it with the Gagauz word Ciotra (Chotra). Through this, the <\/strong><\/em>Kara Gani winery<\/strong><\/em><\/a> remains true to the chosen path – producing wines with a Gagauz accent. Wines of the new line debuted during the 2019 National Wine Day festivities.<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
What is a Ciotra,\nexactly?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Ciotra is a national Gagauz wooden vessel, where, since olden times, the best and most delicious of wines are poured for guests that are dear and pleasant to the heart” Kara Gani director Lora Cerven explains. “It is a symbol of Gagauz hospitality. There is no Gagauz event without it, they take the chotra with them when they invite guests to weddings and baptisms, and also when meeting dear guests. In our view, Feteasca Neagr\u0103, 2018 and Cabernet Sauvignon, 2017 are our best wines, thus we bottled them into our Ciotra. We will continue to produce our best wines in this series, gradually adding something new to it.<\/strong><\/p>

With Ciotra wines we symbolically invite our dear guests to visit us. Having chosen the name for the Ciotra wine series, we pay tribute to Gagauz traditions and continue our “Wine with Gagauz accent” theme. I very much wish for these wines to be appreciated by both potential buyers and current lovers of our wines. I think they will not only buy them, but they will also come visit us.”<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Ciotra Feteasca Neagr\u0103,\n2018<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

This is our first Feteasca Neagr\u0103 harvest. We did not know how this variety will behave, what potential is laid in it, – says winemaker Gheorghe Cerven. – Foreign tourists tell us that they’ve tried Cabernet and Merlot wines in other countries, while the southern Feteasca Neagr\u0103 is more interesting for them. This wine is produced according to classic technology and went through malolactic fermentation. Together with our consultant Nadejda Mardari we have decided that Feteasca Neagr\u0103 would be produced without oak maturation. We managed to obtain 2 thousand bottles from our 2018 harvest.”<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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The wine is of a\ndark-ruby color, with ruby notes on the edges. The first nose is black berries,\namong which there is a hint of blackthorn. Dense thin legs remain on the glass\nwalls. Alcohol content – 15%. Bottling took place in May 2019, which means the\nwine was in the bottle for more than six months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The aroma features\nnotes of dried plum, blackthorn, black chokeberry, black cherry. Since the\nnotes of spices characteristical of Feteasca Neagr\u0103 did not appear in the\naroma, I conclude that it would be better to aerate the wine (by pouring it\ninto a decanter or a jug) for the flavor to be revealed quicker. Since I did\nnot do so, in my case it was only after an hour that a light note of black\npepper and a slight shade of nutmeg appeared in the flavor of my opened bottle\nof Ciotra Feteasca Neagr\u0103, 2018. It’s interesting how every wine, even from the\nsame grape variety, comes out in its own special way. It would seem that each\ntime a set of features characteristic to a certain variety add up to an\naromatic mosaic, making each wine interesting. Of course, if the wine was knowledgeably\nmade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Middle body, mature\ntannins. The taste includes black chokeberry and dry black cherry. The\naftertaste is cherry.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ciotra Cabernet Sauvignon,\n2017<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

This wine is also\nproduced according to the classic winemaking scheme, with malolactic\nfermentation and 12 months of maturation in French barriques of second filling.\nCabernet Sauvignon, 2017 was produced in a batch of 4,000 bottles. Bottled in\nMay 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The wine is of a dark\nruby color, with ruby notes on the rim. Prepare for a long wait before getting\nto know this wine well. The first nose is black overripe berries. Having met\nthe primary flavor, I decanted Ciotra Cabernet Sauvignon, 2017, which I\nrecommend being done by you. The empty glass had Brettanomyces flavors. A few\nminutes later, the same empty glass began letting out fruity flavors. In\ngeneral, the wine did not promise boorishness at a closer look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After 1 hour and 40\nminutes of keeping the wine in a decanter, I poured it into a glass. The\nbouquet featured animal tones and earthy shades. Five hours later, the flavors\nwere tobacco, eucalyptus, dried plum, dried cherry, blackthorn, cherry jam. The\nemptied glass delivers fruit flavors. Not a simple wine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ciotra Cabernet Sauvignon,\n2017 – middle body, vivid acidity. The taste is dry features sluggish cherry,\nslightly binding. The aftertaste has a shade of cocoa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With\nsupport from <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

The\nfounders of Kara Gani are constantly investing in the development of their\nbusiness. Recently they finished building another small wine storage unit and are\ncontinuously landscaping the territory. But change would not be so fast if the Cerven\nfamily was left to face a mass of problems that small producers inevitably face\nalone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We received the first assistance in 2016 on winemaking: within the framework of the Moldova Competitiveness Project program for the support of small producers (financed by USAID and the Government of Sweden) – a grant for the purchase of  winemaking equipment – Lora Cerven says. Then we bought part of the tanks in which our wines are fermented in a controlled temperature, as well as French barriques. Within the framework of the same program, in order to improve the quality of the product, which is implemented by the MCP together with the National Office for Wine and Vine a consultant was assigned to us, which we find very important. Nadejda Mardari helped us a great deal, because we do not have professional education in the field of winemaking. In order for wines to enter the market, it was necessary to develop a brand. Thanks to “MCP” the “43 Oz” specialized agency helped develop the Kara Gani brand, including the brand-book and wine labels. For small producers like us, this is very serious help. It is also difficult for us to participate independently in competitions, and with the financial support of “MCP” (participation is partially covered) Kara Gani wines are promoted at various international competitions where they win medals.<\/strong><\/p>

We combine production with tourism by creating a traditional Gagauz courtyard as well as a mini-museum, in which we are collecting objects that tell about the life and traditions of the Gagauz people. In order to further develop the tourist destination we also received a grant for the purchase of equipment for the kitchen of the restaurant. And we hope for some help in designing the hotel and purchasing equipment for it. We are very grateful for this cooperation. “<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Another\nseemingly small thing are the road signs with the “Kara Gani Winery” brand\nname on them (installed at the initiative and from the funds of the\n“MCP”). When Lora and Gheorghe Cerven first saw them, it was so\nunexpected that it brought them tears of joy. They felt their business had\nfinally made it as a winery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kara Gani is already\nfamiliar not only to the usual local wine lovers, but also to embassies.\nVarious diplomatic missions come to the winery to rest. The geography of the\ncountries from which tourists come is very broad. Guests from almost all states\nof Europe and CIS, Japan, China, USA, Argentina, New Zealand were received\nhere. Of course, most are from neighboring countries. And it is very important\nfor many residents of Moldova to be interested to see where Kara Gani wines are\nborn and to get acquainted with Gagauz traditions. For them, this is an\nadditional discovery of their country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to tourism,\napproximately 40% of the wine is sold at premise. After all, wine is perceived\ndifferently at the winery: it is possible not only to try, but also to see\npeople who produced it, to hear their stories. The owners do not rule out that\nwhen the hotel appears and the roads are completely built, they may even sell\n90% of the wines locally.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Kara Gani wines,\nincluding the new Ciotra series, are sold in wine.md and Em-bar-go wine shops,\nas well as in some restaurants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Work is currently\nunderway to send the first batch of wines overseas. Friends of the Cerven\nfamily in Denmark want to help promote the Ciotra wine series in this\nScandinavian country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The small producer, who grew out of home winemaking, reached the creation of a second series of wines, calling it with the Gagauz word Ciotra (Chotra). Through this, the Kara…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"slim_seo":{"title":"Kara Gani poured their best wines into Ciotras - Wine and Spirits","description":"The small producer, who grew out of home winemaking, reached the creation of a second series of wines, calling it with the Gagauz word Ciotra (Chotra). Through"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[400],"tags":[2504,2502,2501],"class_list":["post-13892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wines-en","tag-ciotra-cabernet-sauvignon","tag-ciotra-feteasca-neagra","tag-small-producer-kara-gani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wine-and-spirits.md\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wine-and-spirits.md\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wine-and-spirits.md\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wine-and-spirits.md\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wine-and-spirits.md\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13892"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/wine-and-spirits.md\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13896,"href":"https:\/\/wine-and-spirits.md\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13892\/revisions\/13896"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wine-and-spirits.md\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wine-and-spirits.md\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wine-and-spirits.md\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wine-and-spirits.md\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}