Opoka Cru Ribolla 2019

This Ribolla comes from the Medana Jama cru, in the heart of the Brda hills, in Slovenia's Primorska region. The vines draw their character from opoka soils, made up of marl and sandstone, and benefit from the balance between Mediterranean influences and Alpine freshness. This plot delivers a deeply mineral and singular expression of Rebula.

The grapes are harvested by hand and ferment spontaneously on their skins for 16 days in concrete eggs. The wine then spends 10 months in concrete eggs, before 12 months' ageing in large 500-litre oak barrels. This winemaking combines precision of fruit, the relief of maceration and the patina of ageing.

This wine reveals notes of white peach, mandarin, ripe citrus, dried fruits, chestnut honey, camomile, fresh hay, toasted almond, cinnamon, cedar and limestone. The palate combines a dense, savoury texture with sleek acidity; its slightly tannic structure, inherited from skin contact, extends a saline, mineral and persistent finish.

Slovenia is a small European country with a long history of winemaking. Winegrowing dates back to the Celts, who were the first to make wine on the territory of present-day Slovenia, 400 years before Christ. With the arrival of the Romans in the first century AD, winegrowing developed further. But let's talk a little about what happened over the last century: despite the cultural and political turmoil that beset the Balkan states, Slovenia maintained its wine industry, which has been particularly prosperous since the country gained independence from the former Yugoslavia. Slovenia has a varied geography, offering a wide variety of microclimates. The region is bordered to the north by the Austrian Alps, to the west by Italy and the Adriatic Sea, to the east by Hungary and to the south by Croatia. The grape varieties grown in Slovenia show an Italian influence in the west, a Germanic influence in the east and a growing "international" French influence overall. These multiple influences contribute to a very varied and astonishing range of wines!