TASTING COMMENT
The nose opens on blackberry and blackcherry intertwined with moka and spicy oakiness. In this mature vintage, the nose is closer to Bordeaux right bank than classic Blaufrankisch. The palate is rich, dense, smooth and silky. Blaufrankisch fruit and lively acidity can be found. The mid-palate is fleshy and from there the finish is just stretching endlessly always on the right balance between power and finesse. Spectacular wine.
96 točk – Jamie Goode (Wineanorak).
WINEMAKING
Grapes are coming from the steepest and stoniest part of Vrbanjka vineyard, the most draining and the richest in limestone and quartz particles. This imparts to the wine an impressive volume and tannin silkiness. Like for Vrbanjka, grapes are hand harvested in 15 kg crates, destemmed and whole berry fermented in open vats with 3 weeks of skin contact. After pressing into stainless steel tank to ensure that ferments are dry and to perform malolactic fermentation, the wine was kept in a new oak 500 L barrique barrel for 12 months, 6 more months in used 500 L Slavonian oak and three months in inox before bottling without fining and filtration.
VINTAGE 2022
Vintage 2022 was mild in its initial months, with quite chilly and wet months until early May. From 10th May summer conditions settled with warm and dry weather. June was marked with some heavy afternoon showers and warm weather- challenging conditions for a winemaker. However, end of June, July and August were above average warm and dry. It was one of the hottest and driest summer on record, quite exceptional in term of duration. Very young vineyards were affected by water stress whereas older vineyards with deeper roots were not. Harvest was also the earliest on our record; starting on the 25th August and the last grapes were picked on the 25th September. In mid and at the end of September there were two big rain events, with more than 200 mm rain in total.
