Rubin Merlot 2017, the latest product from the Wine with a Seal line, premiered in 2019, is probably the best thing that has happened on the Serbian wine scene in recent years when it comes to red wine in the price range up to five euros (at discounts well below four !), and that there is a lot of it and that it is available throughout Serbia everywhere in large retail chains. In other words, the top best buy, to which should be added the fact that at the beginning of 2020, this wine in Germany won a gold medal at the highly esteemed Mundus Vini competition!
Whether it was an extraordinary harvest or something else, but classified in the collection of Wines from Lazar's land that have a purple guarantee of geo-origin and quality, this merlot will throw you out of the saddle on the first sip, not because of the enviable 14.5% alcohol, but by what it provides, both on the nose and on the palate and end. Rare are the merlot wines that currently so richly highlight ripe apricots and very dark chocolate. The dark, slightly purple liquid is perfectly paired with the purple of the aluminum cap, the same edge of the elegant black label, which further emphasizes the embossed silver stamp with the letter "R", something by which you can easily recognize the bottle on the crowded wine shelves.
Extremely much, the wine makes you analyze every sip, which is good because the development in the glass opens up numerous and even herbal notes, so that very ripe apricots and red berries are not completely in the foreground. Alcohol is extraordinarily blended into that richness, with a seriously present but pleasant tannins, acids such that they only firmly support this entire wine-hedonistic skeleton of a sumptuous wine giant for little money. With a long-lasting finish dominated by chocolate and cherries with a little tobacco, it’s hard to stop, stop drinking before the bottle comes to an end.
Honestly, a pair of this merlot could only be a juicy rump steak or chocolate cake, a very ripe and fatty yellow cheese. And if a note is needed, decanting is not necessary, but drink wine from a large glass, with the proviso that you wait a few minutes, so that the air somehow seeps through the thick layers of aromas. And if you plan to spend a lot of time inside the four walls these days, make no mistake, one bottle will be small. Make sure, enjoyment follows…
