2009 Davino Flamboyant

2009 was a truly remarkable vintage in Dealu Mare for more than a decade according to Mr Dan Balaban, Davino’s major stockholder. The same opinion was shared to me by Mrs Deaconu, Halewood’s winemaker. The weather was exactly as it supposed to be with a long vegetative cycle, providing perfect fruit at harvest season.

2009 Davino Flamboyant

Davino’s flagship red wine, Flamboyant is a blend of predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon – the best that the winery grows – with Merlot and Feteasca Neagra, aged for up to 12 months in new Romanian oak barrels. This is also the wine with the highest potential for aging in Davino’s portfolio together with Davino Rezerva.

The 2009 Flamboyant is a prodigy, surpassing in quality any other wine produced in Dealu Mare during the same vintage. The wine comes from rather low yields, a normal practice at Davino. Dark red garnet color with purple reflections, the wine is loaded with extraordinary aromas of blue flowers, blueberry, cassis, mint, licorice and vanilla. The initial nose upon opening brings Feteasca Neagra’s aromas on the front stage with rich spiciness, red fruit and dry plums, but as the wine aerates it becomes very clear what is the dominant grape variety with its unmistakable aromas of green bell pepper and sweet cassis. The wine is distinctive through its opulence and structure, but also through its remarkable precision and freshness. As much as it is rich and extracted, the wine combines elegance and power, showing good balance in spite of its 14.8% alcohol. It reveals itself in stages as it aerates, with additional flavors of chocolate, coffee and ripe red fruit. It has a great purity and a long finish, with fine grained but assertive tannins, and lingering flavors of spices and fresh red and black fruits. There is a serious potential for aging and any wine lover should hold 12 bottles in its cellar and watch its development over the next 15 years or more. I can easily say that this is the best Romanian wine I had so far. This is a keeper that truly deserves its name.  (93-94/100)

I received this wine from Davino as a free sample for tasting.