Our blind tasting game—without the tasting! Can you identify a wine just by reading its tasting note? We post real Wine Spectator reviews. You use clues such as color, aromas, flavors and structure to figure out the grape, age and origin. Good luck!
Tasting Note: Cherry, plum, licorice and tar aromas and flavors are the hallmarks of this solidly built red. There are some funky, beguiling truffle and woodsy elements, and the firm tannins put a grip on the heady finish.
And the answer is...
Variety
Our mystery red is solidly built with firm tannins, a heady finish and cherry, plum, licorice, tar and truffle notes. Let’s figure out what it is!
We can begin by eliminating Gamay, a grape that makes light-bodied reds with characteristic floral notes and lower levels of tannins.
A Grenache could show our wine’s plum, licorice and tar notes. Could this be it? Not likely: Grenaches tend to have medium levels of softer tannins, not the gripping tannins in our mystery red. It looks like this grape has to go too!
Blaufränkisch can make wines with cherry notes and higher levels of tannins, which sounds right. However, we’re missing that grape’s hallmark spice and pepper notes. Maybe another grape works better?
While Merlots can have higher levels of tannins and cherry, plum and truffle notes, the tannins in Merlot would usually be described as supple or soft, not firm. It’s close, but we have to strike it from the list!
Nebbiolo is well-known for making red wines with high levels of gripping tannins and cherry, plum and licorice notes with characteristic tar, truffle and earth accents. We have a winner!
This wine is a Nebbiolo.
Country or Region of Origin
While Nebbiolo is a well-known grape in the wine world, it does not grow prominently in many regions across the globe. It would be difficult to find Nebbiolo plantings in France or Spain. There are some Nebbiolo plantings in Austria’s Mittelburgenland region, but the grape isn’t nearly as prominent in Austria as local varieties like Blaufränkisch, St. Laurent or Zweigelt. California is one of Nebbiolo’s few significant footholds; in California, winemakers use the grape to make rich reds with chewy tannins, dark fruit preserve flavors and nut, tea, leather and earth notes. This doesn’t sound quite right for our red. Meanwhile, in Italy, where the grape likely originates, Nebbiolo is used to make firmer wines with powerful tannins and cherry, tar, earth and licorice notes. This is closer to the mark.
This Nebbiolo is from Italy.
Appellation
We know that our Nebbiolo is from Italy, so we can eliminate Austria’s Bergland, France’s Pauillac, California’s Sonoma Coast and Spain’s Toro. This leaves us with two Italian appellations: Barbaresco and Valpolicella. Located within the Veneto region of northeast Italy, Valpolicella is an appellation well-known for its medium- to full-bodied reds with cherry and spice notes; these are made primarily from the Corvina grape. Farther west, Barbaresco is located within the Piedmont region of northwest Italy, where it is one of several appellations acclaimed for making firm, complex reds from Nebbiolo. Our choice is clear.
This Nebbiolo is from Barbaresco.
Age
Our Barbaresco’s fruit notes are still fresh and prominent; but its truffle and woodsy notes likely indicate our wine has a bit of age. Keeping in mind that Barbaresco winemakers must age their reds for at least two years (with at least nine months spent in oak barrels) before release, let’s take a look back, but not too far back, at vintages in this Piedmont appellation.
Piedmont had a generally cool growing season in 2019, which led to a late harvest; there were heat spikes in the summer, though these were countered by rain. That year’s Barbarescos show firm tannins with a mix of cherry, plum, tar and licorice notes that pick up truffle and earth accents with age. There was a cooler growing season in 2018 as well, and that vintage’s reds feature raspberry, tea, tobacco and floral notes. In 2017, spring rains mitigated a hot, dry summer in Piedmont, and September was ideal for Nebbiolo ripening. That year’s Barbarescos show dusty tannins with chocolate, iron, vanilla and herb accents. Of this group, 2019’s reds sound the most like our Barbaresco.
This Barbaresco is from the 2019 vintage, making it five years old.
Wine
This is the Mura Mura Barbaresco Faset 2019, which scored 93 points in 2024. It retails for $85, and 535 cases were made. For more on Barbaresco and Piedmont reds, read senior editor Bruce Sanderson’s tasting report, "A Classic Year in Piedmont," in the April 30, 2024, issue of Wine Spectator.
—Collin Dreizen, assistant managing editor
