2018 Clai Refošk Brombonero

Community Tasting Notes (1) Avg Score: 94 points

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  1/13/2024 - Thegreen1985 Likes this wine: 94 Points

  Croatian red wine from Istria: Refošk. 15,5 % alcohol. Macerated in large wooden barrels for about one month on natural yeast. Aged for at least two years in big oak barrels (1000 to 2500 l).
  
  Consumed over two days.
  
  Dark red/black color.
  
  Very powerful and ripe aromas of nutmeg, dark fruit, vanilla, blueberries, marker pen, tobacco and licorice. Very powerful flavors of dark fruit, blackberries, vanilla, nutmeg, mint and licorice.
  
  Dry. Medium body. Medium acidity. Silky tannins. Excellent balance. Very good structure. Some complexity. Very powerful. Pure.
  
  Long finish with blackberries and nutmeg.
  
  Day one: A very powerful red wine, outstanding in that aspect. Surprisingly ripe, so much so that I’m skeptical about the potential for long term aging and worried that the planned aeration will be too much. Intensity, concentration and complexity could be better. At this point I hold Ottocento 2016 much higher, a much more complete wine. 93/100
  
  Day two (aerated in bottle, mid-low shoulder level, for 24 hours): A more harmonious wine today, elegant and powerful. It continues to improve during the evening. Excellent with cheese. I now see a potential for aging. A very memorable and quite unique wine. At this stage I hold Ottocento 2016 as the better wine and Brombonero 2018 as the greater wine. 94/100

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