From vineyards straddling the Italian and Slovenian borders, on very special soils, wines are born capable of telling the territory of origin like few others.
Slovenian Brda and Friulian Collio. Two names to indicate the same area, which has always been divided by a border that is as absurd as it is invisible. The political history of this region is troubled, so much so that everyone here tells of having an Austro-Hungarian grandfather, an Italian grandfather, a Yugoslavian father and being born in Slovenia.
The eyes move in a horizon enclosed between the Julian Alps and the sea. "See that white house? It is in Slovenia. But the neighboring building is already Italy ". That is my vineyard down there, my ancestor bought it, the border passes between them. Today it is no longer a problem, but until a few decades ago, it was necessary to face a complex bureaucracy to be able to move from one side to the other with the tractor ". There are many anecdotes that circulate in these parts and that recall a world that fortunately no longer exists.
There Slovenia has been independent since 1991, has only two million inhabitants and is famous for being the fifth greenest country in the world. One does not find it hard to believe, even if only by looking at this segment of territory, where the rows of vineyards alternate with the woods and fruit crops, which give Brda as much fame as wine. "But we also have olive groves because here is a particular microclimate, which makes the fortune of the winemakers, along with the special soil typical of these parts, the opoka, or ponca, rich in calcium"Marjan tells me that since 1988, with the precious help of his wife Valerija, he runs the winery bought by Jožef Simčič in 1860.
This soil is so important and characterizing for the local wines that Marjan has dedicated its most prestigious line to it, produced only in the best years, with the oldest vines (over 60 years of age). He wets a piece of ponca and makes me smell it: it is the same perfume that is found in the chalice of his Rebula, the Slovenian name of yellow ribolla, the most representative grape of the area, which here is vinified in sparkling wine, in white, in orange or as a sweet wine, demonstrating an astonishing versatility, even if the most apt version remains the one that foresees the maceration.
The Brda Rebuola Opoka 2016 is a fascinating and well-balanced wine, in which the tannic component gives a new dimension; opens on peach and apricot aromas with some citrus nuances, reminiscent of chinotto, intense mineral notes, reminiscent of ponca, and spices like white pepper. In the mouth it is velvety, sapid and persistent and tells of a very interesting aging potential: therefore, the advice is to buy and forget the 2016 vintage in the cellar and to drink the monumental 2013 now.
Why now: it is a wine to be savored calmly, to capture all the nuances in the glass. Nothing better than doing it during these days of bridges and holidays.
How it's done: ferments in contact with the skins for 16 days in 1,000 liter cement eggs without the addition of selected yeasts; after soft pressing, it is aged for a year in cement eggs and for 10 months in 500 liter oak barrels.
To combine with: shellfish and seafood, grilled blue fish, smoked fish, eggs with truffles.
Serve it at: 15 ° C
Price: 46 euros
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