|
 Yet another catchy-titled tutored tasting from the London Wine Fair (May 2010),
this time by
Caroline Gilby MW who's an
authority on Eastern European wines (as well as being rather good at
running marathons for charity).
This one featured wines from eastern Slovenia, which threw up several
lively and/or unusual aromatic white wines. Slovenia has perhaps
grabbed a bit of attention for certain intense styles of "macerated"
and "natural-winemaking"
whites sourced from those elevated vineyards in the west, which border the Trieste
area of northwest Italy and trendy wine regions such as Collio. The climate there
is very different to the east, with milder sea-influenced weather; the
east has a much more continental climate, influenced by the Austrian Alps to the
west and north and the landmass of Hungary to the east bringing hot
summers and very cold winters. However, I did try a couple of wines from
western Slovenia afterwards along with a few more Rieslings - Renski or Rhine
or "true" Riesling as opposed to Laški Rizling (although there are now
some good wines being made from this variety too: I won't go on about
Lutomer or whatever it was/is here!) - coming mostly from the east. Because: 1. it seems
promising and 2. well, if you've read anything on this site before,
you'll know I'm slightly Riesling addictive....
Colour code: Producer
wine/place name grape variety
Bajnof
Žametna
Penina sparkling rosé NV (made from
Cviček base wine, which is a blend of red and
white grapes: Žametna črnina,
Modra Frankinja (=Blaufränkisch),
Kraljevina and Laški
Rizling (=Welschriesling or
Riesling Italico) ) -
cherry colour, quite perfumed with morello cherry, other red fruits and
violets; lightly toasted almond and fruit cake notes, very lively
acidity vs a touch of sweetness and roundness. Interesting and
attractive fizz, not to
everyone's taste though! Žametna means "velvety," by the way.
2007 Joannes Protner
Riesling (12.5%
alc.) - lightly peachy vs mineral, oily and "chalky" tones; quite pure
fruit turning oily vs steely edges and crisp acidity, very dry appley
finish; quite elegant and long too. 87
2008 Joannes Protner
Riesling - a bit reductive and awkward on the nose; rounder palate (has about
6g/l residual sugar) vs again showing nice pure Riesling style with
"chalky" texture vs lime fruit, very crisp yet off-dry finish.
87+
2006 Joannes Protner
Riesling - attractive oily developing nose; dried
raisin-y flavours vs very crisp and intense mineral profile,
maturing "petrol-y" fruit finish. 88+
2009 Marof Bodonci
Laški Rizling (13.5%) -
gummy zingy and aromatic with gooseberry, floral and subtle lees notes;
nice lively zesty palate in that modern winemaking style, crisp and juicy
with "chalky" mineral vs more rounded and weighty finish.
85+
2009 Marof
Renski Rizling (11.5%, 21 g/l residual sugar) - floral, citrus and
gummy aromas; medium-dry style showing sweeter side vs crisp and mineral
finish. 80+
2008 Valcl Šipon (=
Furmint) - complex nose
with greengage / kiwi vs richer honeyed and oily notes; perfumed in the
mouth vs creamy buttery and hazelnut, refreshing "cut" and quite
concentrated too; very unusual with attractive fresh vs textured
finish. 89+
2009 Vino Valdhuber
Sauvignon Blanc (12.5%)
- quite restrained citrus and gooseberry style showing juicy lees-y
edges and fresh bite; more Loire than NZ perhaps with nice crisp pure
finish. 85+
2008 Vino Kupljen Sirius
Chardonnay
Jeruzalem-Svetinje
(12.5%) - enticing yet subtle
peachy notes with light spicy oak vs underlying vibrant citrus fruit;
well-balanced mix of all those flavours/textures carries through, well
made with again that underlining crisp bite vs rounded buttery and
coconut edges. 87
2009 Kupljen
Renski Rizling (12.5%) - restrained tight
style with attractive crisp limey fruit; juicy lees vs mineral texture
with steely dry finish, good extract and purity with fair class too.
87+
2008 Kupljen
Renski Rizling - oilier maturing nose with
lightly "burnt" notes; quite lush texture actually with nice developing
fruit vs citrus bite and steely mineral length.
88
2008 Kupljen Classic
Renski Rizling (residual sugar and acidity
are the same at about 6-7g/l and 12% alc.) - more exotic with pineapple
notes vs limey and zingy; crisp and fresh mouth-feel vs rounded and
off-dry, attractive style. 85+
2007 Kupljen "sweet Auslese"
Renski Rizling (9.5%) - honeyed and exotic
with lightly spicy notes; lush mouthful of rich raisin fruit vs racy
acidity cutting through it, closes up on the finish. Needs 5-10 years to
develop. 90
2008 Steyer Gewurztraminer (Alsace
and Austrian clones apparently, 13%) - full-on lychee nose with pure
clean and expressive floral / rose water tones; juicy and off-dry with a
hint of sweetness vs refreshing acidity, very attractive style.
85+
2008 Steyer
Renski Rizling - lightly peachy and floral
fruit vs "phenolic/chalky" zesty texture; tight zingy and crisp length
with lime flavours. Needs a couple of years to open up.
87
2007 Marjan Simčič
Sauvignon Blanc - more golden in colour
than any of the above dry wines, rich yeast-lees vs aromatic green fruit; quite fat
and creamy with subtle toasted texture vs a bit of oomph and bite.
Different for sure, not for all but good though.
87+
Distributors for Simčič wines: H&H Bancroft Wines
in London; US: Trilussa Wine Company CA and Dark Stars imports NYC.
Photos by (top) Joco Znidarsic copied from
www.matkurja.com/projects/wine, where you'll find lots of fascinating generic
info on Slovenian wine, and (bottom)
www.vino-kupljen.com.
|
|
Winery snaps 1:
Burgundy
Winery snaps 2:
SW France
Winery
snaps 3:
South Africa
Lebanon & Austria!
Winery snaps 4:
Spain
Winery snaps 5:
S & N America
Winery
snaps 6:
Oz & New Zealand
Winery snaps 7:
Rhône & Provence
Winery snaps 8:
Sicily
Winery snaps 9:
Portugal
Winery snapshots: Roussillon
4 monster pages
Winery
snapshots:
Languedoc
6 pages
Wines of the
mo
Latest features:
Focus on Portugal
Spotlight on Sicily
"Larging it in the Languedoc" |
