Some more notes from my Europe trip in October.
Tasting at Vinoteka/Dobrovo in GoriskaBrda w/ David Lipovsek (10/7/16) and Tadej (10/8/16):
1. Scurek Rumena Rebula RibollaGialla (12.5%) 2015: Light yellow color; fairly peppery/RG/floral slight stony nose;
tart/tangy/metallic rather stony/chalky low-key peppery/RG/floral/carnations flavor; a pleasant/solid slightly
austere example of RG.
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2. Walter Sirk Jakot t.f. GoriskaBrda suho (13%; TocaiFriulano) Dobrovo 2013: Light yellow color; quite fragrant
TocaiFriulano/floral/carnations/rather spicy lovely perfumed nose; tart bit mineral/stony/chalky quite floral/
carnations/TF slight tangy/metallic flavor w/ quite long floral finish; a very attractive classif Friulano.
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3. Kabaj Zeleni Sauvignon GoriskaBrda (12.5%) Dobrovo 2012: Med.gold color; light vanilla/oak/toasty/caramel
light floral/herbal rather complex nose; lightly tart fairly rich/lush caramel/toasty/oak earthy/dusty slight
herbal/floral complex flavor; very little SauvBlanc character and no evidence of qvervi or skin-contact but
clearly a fair amout of exposure to oak; atypical of Brda SauvBlanc but a rather exotic/interesting wine.
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4. Kmetija Stekar Rizling/Picolit (25 days skin contact; www.KmetijaStekar.com; 13 ppm SO2) Brda 2009: Deep golden/
burnished bronze color; very strong resiny/phenolic/cidery little fruit complex nose; very tart resiny/phenolic/
cidery slight floral/Riesling/peppery flavor; a young skin-contact white dominated by the skin-contact phenolic
character; rather on the hard/austere side & needs age.
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4a. Kmetija Stekar Rizling/Picolit (Corovined for some unknown time; tasted next day w/ Tadej) Brda 2008: Deep
burnished bronze color; bit oxidized/mousey/hantavirus some phenolic resiny nose; very tart bit oxidized some
funky/mousey light oak flavor; not nearly as good as the '09 and seems a bit oxidized from being Corovined.
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5. Forlorn-Hope Shiya RibollaGialla VareVnyd/NapaVlly (13.30%; 77cs) 2013: Med.yellow color; light phenolic/
resiny/skin-contact some appley/RG/peppery bit earthy rather interesting nose; very tart/tangy bit tannic
light phenolic/resiny some appley/peppery/RG/spicy flavor w/ light tannic bite; very long rather phenolic/
skin-contact/resiny finish; speaks quietly of RG & seems a bit subdued/beat-down since the last time I
had it; nice balance os skin-contact phenolics and quiet RG fruit.
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6. Darja Domenis Refosk GoriskaBrda (12.5%) Slovrenc 2014: Med.dark color; strong very attractive black cherry/
Refosco some loamy/earthy rather complex nose; fairly tart strong blackberry/black cherry cola/Refosco somewhat
earthy/dusty/loamy flavor w/ modest rough tannins; a pretty typical Refosco but on the earthy/rustic side.
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7. Marjan Simcic Refosk GoriskaBrda (13.00%; Lot: 25.7.2016) 2014: Very dark color; very strong black cherry/
blackberry/black cherry cola/Refosco/ripe/boysenberry more perfumed/fragrant quite lovely nose; softer rich/
lush strong ripe/boysenberry/blackberry/black cherry cola slight licorice/earthy flavor w/ modest soft/ripe
tannins; much more lush fruit and a quite attractive Refosco.
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8. Vina Ronk CabFranc GoriskaBrda (12.5%; www.vinaronk.si/) Kristančič Stojko/Dobrovo 2013: Med.dark color;
strong earthy/herbal/CabFranc light toasty/oak nose; soft rather herbal/CabFranc/blackcurranty light toasty/oak
bit earthy/dusty flavor w/ light tannic bite; a fairly classic GoriskaBrda CabFranc on the earthy/herbal side.
The next day (10/8/16) with Tadej, focusing on reds, we tried:
1. Vinska Klet GoriskaBrda Krasno rdece (40% CabFranc/30% CabSauv/30% Merlot; 13%; www.Klet-Brda.Si) Dobrovo 2013:
Very dark color; quite Cab/herbal/earthy low fruit some dusty/loamy nose; tart rather earthy/loamy/herbal/Cab
somewhat rustic little fruit/bit underripe flavor w/ light raspy tannins; a rather earthy/rustic/loamy Cab blend
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2. Forlorn-Hope Shiya RibollaGialla VareVnyd/NapaVlly (13.30%) 2013: Nose much the same as before w/ less of a
phenolic character; richer/lusher/rounder less tart/austere more RG/appley/peppery fruit lightly phenolic/resiny
flavor; some to show better than the day befor, maybe warmer temperature; Tadej thought it showed a lot of oak,
but I didn't find it particularly unless compared to Slovene Rebula.
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3. Edi Simcic Rebula GoriskaBrda (13%) 2013: Med.light burnished bronze color; lightly phenolic/resing/skin-contact
some RG/white pepper light earthy/dusty complex nose; bit tart somewhat resiny/phenolic/earthy light white pepper/
appley/spicy/RG flavor w/ light tannic bite; more phenolic & more interesting than the F-H.
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4. Carga Modri Pinot GoriskaBrda (12%; www.Carga.Si; 100% PinotNoir) Pristavo/Dobrovo 2011: Med.dark color; rather
earthy/loamy/dusty slight black cherry rather rustic/PN complex nose; tart quite earthy/dusty/loamy/compost pile
light PN/black cherry rather earthy/rustic flavor w/ light sharp/bitey tannins; an interesting rather earthy/
rustic rendition of PinotNoir some like those from the Val d'Aosta.
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5. Slovensk Erzetic Crna Rebula (Pokalca/Schioppetino; 13.5%; www.Vina-Erzetic.com) Andrej Erzetič/Višnjevik/
Dobrovo 2014: Dark color; very strong black cherry cola/quite peppery/cracked black pepper slight earthy/dusty
slight licorice/pungent/DrPapper complex beautiful nose; rather tart very strong cracked black pepper/black
cherry cola/pungent/licorice slight earthy/dusty very structured classic Schioppettino complex flavor w/
some hard tannins; needs more age; a beautiful expression of Schioppettino as you can find.
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6. Karol & Igor Marijan Simcic Refosk Sladki GoriskaBrda (11%; www.VinoSimcic.si) Hum/Marjan/GoriskaBrda 2015:
Dark color; very intense licorice/grapey/boysenberry very ripe bit peppery/earthy nose; soft slightly sweet
intense grapey/very ripe/boysenberry/blackberry/black cherry soda bit earthy/black pepper flavor w/ light
very ripe/round tannins; very much like a Recioto or LateHrvst Refosk; very intense boysenberry fruit and
really quite interesting.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Susan & I departed the VipavaVlly, stopped for a quick look/see in the old village town of Stanjel,
buzzed thru the Kras and on up to GoriskaBrda, a small area in western Slovena that sticks down into
the adjacent area of Friuli. We had no place to stay the next few nights, so stopped off at the TIC
(Tourist Information Center) in Dobrovo at the ancient castle there that stands atop the village. As they
are throughout Slovenia, the TIC's are a tremendous help. In a huge stroke of serendipity, right adjacent
in the courtyard to the TIC was the Vinoteka wine bar, where you could taste a variety of wines from
GoriskaBrda and nearby areas. The proprietor/owner is David Lipovsek, who proved to be very wine-knowledgeable.
I planned to taste thru a variety of local whites and then return the next day to taste thru some reds,
which I did with Tadej, also very knowledgeable. Vinoteka is an amazing place to taste thru a variety of
GoriskaBrda wines. Highly recommended. After Susan & the TIC lady lined us up a place to stay (Okrepčevalnica
pri Marjotu in nearby Gonjače...highly recommended B&B w/ very good food), she joined me below.
The VinotekaBrda WebSite: (www.vinotekabrda.si/en/) They have quite an extensive list of the producers in
the GoriskaBrda, most of whom I'm not familiar. I can't recommend VinotekaBrda enough. Unless you familiar w/
some of the Brda producers, this is the ideal place to start your exploration of the Brda region. They will
even set up appointments for you at the region's wineries. And outstanding find for me, all because of the
adjacent TIC Office.
I mentioned to David that I was packing a Calif RibollaGialla (Forlorn-Hope) and would he like to open it
to try. He was, of course, quite interested, so I hustled out to the car to retrieve it & get it chilled down a bit.
The Vinoteka is located in the cellar in the castle (which also includes a restaurant) that was built
in the 1600's. It had to be rebuilt in 1972 after an earthquake did a lot of damage.
As we were sampling and eating on a Prust platter, it was obvious that they were setting up for something
big that night, when Vinoteka was closing for a "special event". In another stroke of luck, Jean-Michel Morel,
winemaker at nearby Kabaj wnry, is having a BD celebration there that night. Jean-Michel, a Frenchman, married
into the Kabaj family and makes their wine. Often with skin-contact whites and in qvervi. David brings J-M over,
introduces us, and we chat a bit. J-M tries the F-H Ribolla and pronounces it "different", expresses that he
likes it, finds the acidity rather high. My impression was that David rather liked this rendition of RG.
The next day, we finished it up w/ Tadej and he also seemed to like it.
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2. Jakot: Because of the EEC ruling favoring the Hungarians, the TokaiFriulano (t.f.) varietal name is no longer
permitted in Friuli/Slovenia. Some use the viticultural name Sauvignonasse. Others use Jakot (Tokaj spelled
backwards). Others use the more common Friulano.
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3. Forlorn-Hope: This is the wnry of MattRorick. Was located at the TenbrinkWnry in the SuisanVlly. With the
purchase of the old StevenotWnry, he is no located in Murphys/CalaverasCnty, an area that could use a good
kick in the pants to rachet up the quality of their wines. The grapes for his Ribolla comes from the GeorgaVare
vnyd in Napa. Matt makes some very interesting wines, many of the whites w/ skin-contact, and would fit right
in there in the GoriskaBrda scene, cowboy hat and all.
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4. GoriskaBrda: My plan was to spend about 4 days at Agriturisms in the GoriskaBrda area and split our time between
GoriskaBrda and Friuli. As it turned out, we only spent one partial day (10/9/16) in Friuli and did no wnry
visits, only stopping at Enoteca di Cormons. The rest of the time was in GoriskaBrda. It is an absolutely
stunning area to visit. Located between the beautiful SocaVlly to the East and the broad Pannonian Plain of Friuli
to the West, it has some beautiful steep hillside vnyds. I can see why many of the Friulian winemakers have
such a high regard for the grapes grown across the border in GoriskaBrda
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5. Erzetic: I was blown away by this wine. A blend of Schioppettino and Pokalca. They were the first to grow
Schioppettino in Slovenia and are crediting for rescuing Pokalca, the local name for RibollaNera, from extinction.
They farm organically and make their wines by "natural" techniques (by whatever definition). Some of their wines
are made/aged in 7' tall Georgian clay amphora. They are imported into USA by Old World Vines. I was impressed.
Tom