Slovenia

Slovenian Wines all week next week!

/ April / Leave a comment

Movia in Slovenia

I’m giddy.  Next week I am going to be completely and utterly entrenched in the wines of one of my newfound favorite wine producing countries of all time. Slovenia.

On Tuesday night, I’m teaching a wine class at Trilogija Wine Bar and Restaurant based on the various regions and their specialities, including some Slovenian-inspired dishes.

On Thursday I head out with a few friends to visit 2-3 wineries, one producer of Sparkling and one who is supposedly making some of the best wine in Slovenia as a garagiste.

Friday headed up with a small group to visit a really interesting producer of the grape Zelen, a rare and indigenous variety of grape, and then to Movia.  As in  MOVIA. A winery I’ve long held an unnatural obsession with.

The next day I’ll be joined by more ladies at the Slovenian winery nearest and dearest to my heart, Kabaj.  We’ll spend a super VIP day drinking, learning and exploring Goriska Brda and it’s wonders…including a cooking class where we’ll learn a little something about the gastronomy of the region.

Hope you stay tuned for further updates!

Amphora Magic in Slovenia

/ April / Leave a comment

Wines made in the ancient style using terra cotta Amphora buried in the ground are as unique as they are hard to find.  In fact, they were merely more than legend before I moved to Croatia in 2010, having tried only one that I could find available on the market in the U.S. at that time.  So when a friend introduced me to Mr. Jean Michel Morel of Slovenia’s Goriška Brda region at a wine trade show in Zagreb, I was more than elated to meet him and try his wines.  I was completely blown away by their beauty.  The article that follows is my account of this past weekend’s visit to his winery and family residence, where his family’s hospitality is as astounding as the wines they produce.

Beli Pinot (Pinot Blanc)

Amphora Magic in Slovenia

September 27, 2011

“Put down your notebook,” Jean Michel instructs me as we began our tasting tour of his family’s winery, letting me know there would be no rigorous note-taking or fastidious documentation as we walked through the cool, dark cellar tasting wine from the barrels.  On the way down we had passed the quiet, private room which hosts the Amforae, which has just one small cut-out window to peer into from the staircase.  In here the Amforae are completely buried, with only the mouth of the vessels actually exposed above ground.  He explains to me that 20% of the wine that is put into the vessels is lost due to evaporation each year, but this aids in the microoxidation process which contributes to the unique character of the wine.

Taking barrel samples at Kabaj

We make our way through the cellar, without taking any notes, simply sharing thoughts on the wines that we taste from their barrels. There is true magic in this winery, in this space.  It’s not fancy by any stretch, but the common thread running through all of the wines is that they’re all really amazing, each in their own right.  The white wines here are some of the most magnificent expressions that I have ever tasted of their varietals; the Beli Pinot (Pinot Blanc), for example, bears remarkable brightness along with the lovely characteristics of white peach and baked apple. And indeed all of them are incredibly intriguing, richly complex and beautifully integrated. Most of the wine, in fact all but for one single barrel, is aged in old oak barrels, and Morel jokingly makes the comment that, “One new barrel is enough. I’m selling wine, not oak.”

The wines that we sampled from the barrels would all make perfect young wines, but producing young wine is not the goal of this family winery. They are making serious, finely woven wines which will stand the test of time and even improve in the bottle for a decade or more to come, as was easily proven during later tastings of 1994 Tocai and 1996 Chardonnay.

The reds are no different, vibrant and complex with just enough rusticity to make them really intriguing as well. Merlot will be bottled on its own, but the gorgeous Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, along with Petit Verdot will be blended into the Morel Cuvée.  Floral aromatics dominate on these stunning reds, with crushed rose petal and violet aromas coming forward and wild bramble fruit in the background, mingled with leather, tar and baking spices. These are gorgeous wines, buzzing with a life of their own.

The real star of the show in the Kabaj winery is the Amfora. This complete and utter labor of love began in 2006.  Jean Michel explains that he learned about this style of wine on a vacation to the Republic of Georgia.  “I was visiting in 2004, and tasting a lot of mediocre wine. Then I went to a monastery of the Orthodox Church. At this time I tasted the craziest, best wine of my life. I’m talking with these guys from the monastery, and they gave me one opportunity, they asked if I wanted to make this kind of wine. So they gave me the chance to train with them and learn these techniques (using Amphora). The monastery is very serious- they are not selling wine.  They produce these wines to give as gifts to the royal families.  I am returning to Georgia every year to learn more.”

Buried Amfora

The Amfora wines are beautiful beyond explanation. They, like the other wines produced here, win you over with their pervasive aromas and flavors, always subtle but incredibly complex and definitive, even unusual in some ways that we traditionally think about wine. Tastings from the not-yet-released 2008 vintage poured forth black pepper, tangled with traditional stone fruit flavors and aromas.  Not exactly what you expect from a white wine. Maybe my favorite characteristic of these wines though is the mouthfeel. It’s waxy and oily both, coating your mouth and pervading your senses. It’s absolutely unforgettable wine, which for me is the marker of a classic.

Back upstairs in the winery, rock music blares from the radio and Jean Michel explains to me that some producers play only opera music in their wineries, but that doesn’t suit him. “In my winery it’s rock and roll.” And while in fact his manner is very relaxed and jovial, Mr. Morel seems the kind of guy who’s more rock and roll than opera, blaring his rock music and sporting a 5 o’clock shadow, with a perpetual Marlboro Red dangling from his lip. His casual style and the well-worn winery are completely in contrast with the family’s bright, tidy agritourismo and restaurant upstairs.

He himself grew up in France, having lived in several areas including Perpignan, where his mother still resides. As a young man he moved to Italy, for a job at a winery in the Collio region of Italy’s Northeast, which borders the Slovenian region of Goriška Brda. It was there that he met his wife, Katja Kabaj, and her family, with whom he joined forces in 1993 to work in the family’s winery in Slovenia. At that time the family was producing just 3 barrels of wine, enough for themselves. When Jean Michel came on they began more serious production, and the winery is now up to 70,000 bottles under the Kabaj label.

Jean Michel now runs the winery while Katja thoughtfully and attentively tends to the guests.  In 2006 they expanded their family property to include 6 lovely double rooms which are available for guests to rent.  The rooms, joined with the restaurant, make a perfect horseshoe around the restaurant’s terrace, which is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  The cuisine here is based on the freshest regional ingredients and culinary tradition, with an inspired and creative twist.  Instead of the expected risottos and tiramisus that dominate many of the region’s menus, they are featuring exciting riffs on the local cuisine.  They brought on a bright, young chef with fresh ideas so that their restaurant isn’t run of the mill by any stretch, which of course matches the philosophy of the winery.  And beginning in October of this year, they will bring on another highly acclaimed chef, who formerly worked as Sous Chef at Le Mandrac Restaurant in Opatija, Croatia. This will serve to shake things up even more and further develop their restaurant concept.  As it is, the community has definitely taken notice of this sweet spot. The restaurant was consistently filled with happy customers during my visit, sipping their favorite Kabaj wines and enjoying their delicious multi-course meals in this bright, sunny setting which overlooks miles of vineyards.  Here it’s truly great hospitality combined with amazing wines in a spot that’s as close to heaven on earth as any I’ve ever experienced.  And if the 2011 vintage here in Goriška Brda is as good as Jean Michel’s smile and nod indicates, I think we’re in for a treat.