2014 Domaine Vlassides Opus Artis

Community Tasting Notes (2) Avg Score: 90 points

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  5/13/2022 - forceberry wrote: 90 Points

  The flagship wine of Vlassides made with Merlot (1/3) from the Karamanos vineyard, Cabernet Sauvignon (1/3) from the Afames vineyard and Syrah (1/3) from the Katoshi vineyard. The varieties are vinified separately, first macerated for two weeks with the skins, the racked into new French oak barrels to finish the fermentation, go through the MLF and age for 18 months. The wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered and aged for another 2 years before release. 14,5% alcohol, 2,9 g/l residual sugar, 6 g/l acidity and pH 3,4.
  
  Very deep, dark and inky purplish-black color that stains the glass as you swirl it around. The nose feels very powerful and voluptuous with sweetish, yet quite complex aromas of soft dark plums and ripe bilberries, some toasty oak spice, a little bit of cocoa, light creamy notes of vanilla custard, a hint of blackberry jam, a boozy touch of alcohol and a whiff of forest floor. The overall feel is slightly evolved, even though the wine doesn't come across as particularly developed. The wine feels dense, textural and full-bodied, yet - surprisingly enough - not particularly heavy or extracted on the palate. There are savory and somewhat evolved flavors of wizened dark plums and ripe black cherries, some old leather notes, a little bit of balsamic richness, light oaky notes of toasty wood and coffee, a hint of overripe redcurrant and a sweet touch of raisiny dark fruit. The overall feel is enjoyably dense and structured, thanks to the surprisingly high acidity and still quite firm and tightly-knit yet not aggressive tannins. The finish is rich, quite noticeably grippy and moderately warm with bold flavors of wizened blackcurrants, ripe black cherries and prunes, some sweet blackberry jam tones, a little bit of toasty oak spice, light mocha tones, a hint of balsamic VA and a hint of raisiny fruit.
  
  A surprisingly nice and harmonious effort. Perhaps a bit too much of a polished blockbuster for my taste, but the wine is definitely going in the right direction and, in all likelihood, after another 10 years or so the might've lost all its modernist "new world" qualities and turned into a fine, savory and structured Cypriot red. It's not a bullseye in its current form, but its impressive tannic structure, bright acidity and sense of balance forgive quite a bit. All in all, a bit monolithic yet still a very serious and quite enjoyable effort, recommended.

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  9/28/2021 - Ajvandet Likes this wine: 90 Points

  Complex yet elegant. Should be decanted a few hrs before drinking. This will be even better in 5 yrs or so

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