Barberry Garden

9.1

Wine #5 on Jean-Pierre Robinot Uncorked Vol. 1

Lovely, perfumed, and delicate bouquet of flowers, seawater, and peach. With time, it opens up and becomes sweeter on the nose. On the palate, it's round despite the high acidity, offering an interesting evolution with a touch of brine in the finish. Lively, electric, and delicious. It's like Gravonia mixed with Jacky Blot. A curious combination, but it needs more time in the bottle.

2024-05-27 — 6 months ago

Barberry Garden

8.8

Wine #4 on Vinul Moldovei Vol. 1.

Generous and ripe new-world-styled Pinot Noir. Sweet cherry, dark chocolate, earth, generic tobacco (herbaceous notes) and well-done steak. Aye, a bit smokey. And while it may charm you with its aromas, the palate may kill you and your descendants. Rustic dry tannins and high alcohol. You may love it, you may hate it, but probably you'll enjoy this wine with some heavy food. A lovely and interesting bouquet with a questionable palate.

Tasted on 2023-07-18 — a year ago

Barberry Garden

9.0

Tasted blind while knowing the list of wines. Guessed the wine. And I found it beautiful and refreshing, especially in contrast with the previous atrocity. A charming bouquet of cherry, white pepper, mushrooms, dill and pickled tomato. Relatively funky, fresh and elevated. Not simple, rather a challenge, but a pleasant one.

Tasted on 2023-07-21 — a year ago

Barberry Garden

9.2

Wine #4 on Jean-Pierre Robinot Uncorked Vol. 1

Expressive bouquet of honey, bruised quince, lanolin, and sheep cheese. On the palate, it's electric but not disturbing. It's like distant lightning—strikes quickly, then you wait for the thunderclaps, which arrive as a long, evolving, beautifully executed finish. Salty, flavourful, and delicious.

2024-05-27 — 6 months ago

Barberry Garden

8.0

Meh, it's a simple and straightforward sweet wine with notes of pear candy and sugar cane. The aftertaste is surprisingly short and the acidity is lacking. Pair with ice cream, hehe.

Tasted on 2023-07-18 — a year ago

Barberry Garden

8.9

Bonus wine on Vinul Moldovei Vol. 1.

What the heck? This is mind-blowing rosé. It's clean, not complex but so... delicious. Wild strawberries, cassis juice, cream. It's round and well-balanced. A bit of mint in the finish, which is nice.

Tasted on 2023-07-18 — a year ago

Barberry Garden

9.4

Any day ending with a bottle of this wine is a good day. Consistently gorgeous, intense, sophisticated and delicious wine. Wet leaves, wet cellar, Jerez, chalk, mushrooms, bruised apples, honey and nuts. Perfectly balanced, multilayered and persistent. You wake up with every taste bud remembering the taste.

Disgorged in January 2021
156 months on lees

Tasted on 2023-07-21 — a year ago

Barberry Garden

9.0

Tasted blind and guessed the region. I was actually thinking about some tired Crémant by Pierre Frick but turned out to be something better - a wine you can't find on the UA market.

Intense and open bouquet of bruised apples (the act of bruising happened a week or two ago), honey, croissants with butter and almond. Good acidity, and good structure. Delicious and persistent.

Tasted on 2023-06-28 — a year ago

Barberry Garden

8.8

Wine #1 on Vinul Moldovei Vol. 1.

Novak is quite famous for mostly unknown Alb de Oniţcani. Compared to the white label, this one offers a much more generous and multilayered bouquet of acacia, boxwood, hay, peach, pomelo and butter. And what begins so wonderfully turns into quite a heavy mouthfeel. The alcohol is not well-balanced and it blurs acidity. On the other hand, the aftertaste is quite long with a nice bitterness in the finish. 240 MDL? I'll buy it again to pair with food.

Tasted on 2023-07-18 — a year ago

Barberry Garden

8.8

Wine #3 on Vinul Moldovei Vol. 1.

Despite the name, I am pretty sure it's Gewürztraminer and not Savagnin. It has a perfumed and expressive bouquet of rosé petals jam, beeswax, orange oil, wood polisher and calendula. With time it reveals candied zest, dried apricot and dried paint with nicely weaved VA. And while it's interesting in the nose, the mouthfeel is suffering the bane of many Moldovan wines - high alcohol. The wine feels heavy. On the other hand, the tannins are gentle and the aftertaste is long and flavourful.

The target audience is not clear to me. It's intriguing and playful in the nose, but the palate suggests some heavy family dinner. All in all, I have one question. Where is my mămăligă cu brânză?

Tasted on 2023-07-18 — a year ago