Pages: (1)  2  3    >>

The start of an email correspondence.

I remember Miha Batič, one of our Slovenian producers, telling me that his Great-Grandfather was Austrian, his Grandfather was Italian, his Father Yugoslavian, and now he is Slovenian. They’ve been working the same land and living in the same house since 1592. While borders and nationalities change, the vineyards have remained the same.      To this end, Italian and Slovenian producers are in the process of creating the first ever Trans-Border DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) that celebrates the Carso (Italian) or Karst (Slovenian) region. For instance, there are already joint community initiatives such as Scenarios and Flavours from the Karst Plateau without Frontiers based in Trieste that functions much like a “Doctors Without Borders” for food and wine. Concerning wine, they focus on the grape called “Terrano” (Italian) or “Teran” (Croatian and Slovenian) coupled with the iron rich “Terra Rossa” (red earth) unique to the region. These are red wines with off the charts acidity, enough minerality to meet a healthy diets monthly quota, and often a slightly tangy wild berry flavor that make it an incredible wine of place. It’s a killer with Prosciutto.      With this in mind, I’ve had many buyers admit they love the wines I’ve shared with them but immediately follow it up with, “They don’t fit anywhere on my list” or "They won't sell here." At the same time, they carry wines that share virtually the same soil, grape, climate, and history but happen to have DOC, DOCG, or IGT instead of Product of Croatia or Slovenia on their labels. If Terroir driven wines are really at the heart of their philosophy, why are politically drawn borders getting in the way?      The following is an actual email exchange that argued why a focus on Northeastern Italian wines should also consider the wines of Istria, Croatia. For privacy, the names have been blocked out.                    

Jean-Michel Morel, proprietor and wine maker at Kabaj.

“Taste it with your eyes closed,” says Jean Michel Morel as I swirl his Amfora 2006 in my glass.     We are at the Kabaj tasting for trade and press, held Thursday at the restaurant Terroir in Tribeca, NYC. Jean Michel and Kabaj’s sales manager, Tomo Ceh, were there to pour eight wines made in the hills of Goriska Brda hard against Slovenia’s border with Italy.     I closed my eyes and tasted the light amber wine in my glass. The aroma was rich, of honey and sweet pollen. The wine was smooth, with ample body and a lactic topnote, like the smell of a great cheese shop, as well as a noticeable oxidation which, with the healthy acidity and slight tannin of the wine, gave its body rigor. Beneath was an elusive floral quality and light smoke. If I hadn’t known this wine was white, with my eyes closed I might have assumed it was a red with a little age on it—and that was Jean Michel’s point.      “It’s red wine—only the color is white,” he says.
    The 2006 is the middle vintage of three white blends he is pouring that are made in Georgian clay amphoras buried in the ground following a 7,000-year-old method. Amfora is made from the indigenous Rebula (Ribolla Gialla), Sauvignonasse (Tocai Friulano), and Malvasia Istriana. The maceration and fermentation of these whites is ten months long, extracting tannins, deep color, and the flavors of wild yeast while intensifying further through the loss of 20% of the wine through evaporation.     Kabaj’s non-amphora wines are also intense. Winemaking in this area of western Slovenia is characterized by long maceration for concentration and structure. Many who taste the wines may recognize the grapes from their knowledge of the Italian wines of Collio, but most don’t realize that Collio and Brda are the same place. Both words mean “hills,” and the vineyards cross borders without regard for nationality. (30% of Kabaj’s Sauvignonasse grapes grow in Italy.)     Kabaj’s wines are Old World in style, with the still-tart acidity made for food, and the structure for aging. Tomo pours the 2007 Merlot and I ask when he would drink this herbaceous, smoky, slightly tannic red. His answer: “From 2013 to 2020”. It is easy to imagine the Cuvee Morel 2006 (60% Merlot, 18% each of Cabs Franc and Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot), a beautifully complex wine that tantalizes the senses with aromas of herbs, flowers and grasses, developing nuance upon nuance well into the twenty-teens.     After the tasting, Stetson and I chat about what makes these wines stand apart. It is Brda and its winemaking traditions, the terroir of soil/fruit/yeast that the wines express, and Jean Michel’s careful guardianship in the winery. These are not “minimalist” wines, which can sometimes seem dirty and experimental, but they do possess a quality that I loosely call funky. Funky is a very good thing—it means I can taste the land, the fermentation process, a bit of oxidation maybe. The wines taste earthy more than fruity, and they have integrity.     “Elegantly funky,” says Stetson. Perfectly stated.     Jean-Michel and Tomo are flying now to California where they will be hosting a number of wine dinners and tasting events in Los Angeles and San Francisco starting Sunday, May 15 with a tasting at Silverlake Wine at 3pm. We hope to see many of you there.
You can read the full schedule of the Kabaj events on the new community site Slovenes in USA.
    Text by Katherine Camargo, DWS , photos by Holley Robbins.

Tags: amfora    kabaj    new york    slovenia   

Jean-Michel and Tomo of Kabaj - Miha Batič.

We are pleased to announce the visit of two Slovenian wine makers in California in May: Miha Batič represents a pioneering organic estate in Vipava Valley. Jean-Michel Morel and Tomo Čeh come from Kabaj in Goriška Brda. Kabaj is reknowned for their unique Amphora and long maceration wines. Meet them at one of the many events we are planning. You can read the full schedule on the new community site Slovenes in USA.
    Please welcome Jean Michel of Kabaj when he makes his 1st step into an American Wine Bar: Terroir NY Tribeca, Thursday, May 12, 1-4pm. Jean will pour a selection of his finest wines for trade & media. R.S.V.P. required. On his trip from New York to Los Angeles Kabaj will meet and work with two James Beard Award nominees: The first is Chairman Paul Grieco of Terroir NY who was nominated for Excellence in Wine Service. We are very happy that Paul graciously agreed to host Kabaj for his first ever tasting in the United States at his renowned wine bar in Tribeca.
    It is an honor that the first wine dinner featuring the wines of Slovenian breakout Kabaj will take place at LA's iconic AOC. Paired with the cuisine of 2010 James Beard Award Nominee Suzanne Goin by the chef herself, this is a once only experience. The combination of Kabaj and AOC is deeper than great wine and great food.
The kitchen that French vigneron Jean Michel Morel and his wife Katja maintain at the Kabaj estate in Western Slovenia has a decidedly Provencal touch thanks to Jean's French roots. This elegant meal represents nothing less than a meeting of masters is also a cross cultural dialogue. The comprehensive line up of Kabaj wines will include 2 vintages of the estates benchmark "Amfora". This is sure to be one of the finest dinners we have yet been a part of. Please join us as we toast to them both this Monday, May 16th at 7pm at AOC. Please see the menu here.
    Watch a short & sweet video about Kabaj.

Franci Cvetko serving his full line-up at Kogl winery.

Formally suited we hit the ground running on our latest work trip to Central Europe. We spent 12 days split between Croatia, Slovenia and Hungary. The night of our arrival was the kick-off Gala Dinner for the Zagreb Wine Gourmet Festival held in the capital’s Museum of Contemporary Art. Hosting over 140 wineries it is the largest tasting of Croatia’s wines all year. Attendees ranged from top politicians like President Ivo Josipovic to France's father of biodynamic farming Nicolas Joly. The fair itself was a frenzy of trade and consumers out of their minds to taste everything Croatian. We went in with high expectations but still the number of excellent wines was shocking. There is a growing self awareness among producers that indigenous grape varieties made in local styles are Croatia’s great strength. This coupled with the rapid increases in quality is yielding the most transparent views of Croatia’s complex terroir yet seen. To watch this unfold is inexplicable. Despite the crowd, between tastings we were able to finalize most of our spring shipment. Both days we tasted until the lights flashed and our mouths hurt. After the tasting we managed to enjoy 4 separate multi-course dinners in just 3 nights. We shared endless conversations with old friends, and got to know new ones. We all but completely burned ourselves out. Or so we thought.     Also at the fair pouring were a number of Slovenian producers including our friends from Kabaj. We had made plans to stay at their estate in Goriška Brda which has excellent guest accommodations. Together over the next few days we sped around Slovenia visiting their friends whose wines they thought we would enjoy. On the way from Zagreb we stopped in the chilly, domed hills of the Bela Krajina region to taste electric Laški Rizling and very cool climate Modra Frankinja AKA Blaufränkisch. We drank the iron rich Vitovska and Teran of the Karst, sea tinged Malvasija and Refošk from Koper, Pinela in both light and powerful forms from the Vipava and a long list of Brda wines, too numerous to recount. Our stay at Kabaj gave us a sense for not just the Kabaj wines but the family themselves. We tasted many wines some experimental, some from barrel, some quite old and others yet to be released. One long night this lasted until 6am in the morning. To enjoy this close a perspective on such an interesting producer was an honor. After this we met with our great partner Silvo Črnko and his 16 year old daughter Tamara who is a certified diver and now on her way to become a pilot. Naturally happy, Silvo’s gift is his ability to turn that happiness into wine. The 2010 Jareninčan, like the 09, is pure refreshing joy. Snow gently fell while we enjoyed a familial meal with the Cvetko's on the vineyard hill named Kogl. We selected a rose of Pinot Noir and an elegant sparkling from the expansive carefully nurtured selection of estate wines they Franci makes to be added to the classic dry whites of theirs we have long sold. These plus new wines from both Batič and Kabaj are due in Mid April.     From Slovenia we charged full bore into Hungary. Staying in Budapest next to the castle of Queen Maria Theresa, we took day trips to a number of important appellations. While in Budapest we spent time with our friends Gábor and Carolyn Bánfalvi who offer some of the best food and wine tours in Europe through their travel business "Taste of Hungary". Gábor introduced us to a number of excellent Forditas, an almost extinct “lesser” style of Tokaji we have been on the look-out for. We visited two volcanic wine regions back to back. Somlo, exclusively a white wine appellation and Eger which is almost exclusively red. Generally speaking the wines could not be more different. Somlo whites are big, gentle and lovely, while the reds from Eger are angular, sinewy and often demand aging. What they share is pronounced, often aromatic minerality and an infinite range of texture derived from the unique volcanic soils of each. Drawn to Somlo in part by the rare grape Juhfark we were equally struck by the Furmint, Hárslevelű and most of all Olaszrizling we tasted. In Eger we spent an evening with Dr. Janos Stumpf enjoying homemade wild venison sausage and a range of already delicious barrel samples. He is involved in a collaborative export project with Canadian Master Sommelier John Szábo called J&J. Their perfumed, muscular 2006 Kékfrankos from primly situated Eged vineyard will be coming to us soon. Taking little time to rest we managed to see both of Hungary’s major southerly red wine regions Szekszárd and Villány. After tasting the 2009 Eszterbauer Kadarka named Nagypám or Grandfather at Bistro Bock in Budapest last year we contacted Janos Eszterbauer and were lucky enough to buy a bit. Never met, only tasted one wine and it turned out to be one of the fastest selling for us, ever. Finally able to meet the family we discovered Eszterbauer is more than just great Kadarka. Just briefly seeing Villány we were happy we did not miss it. The final taste left in our mouths was Gere’s lovely new 2010 Rose and the sensational vintage specific Pinot Noir’s from the impassioned team at Vylyan.     As we seem to always find at the end of these trip our partners and the quality of their wines exceeded our expectations. We are excited to share what we found with you and hope that the wines will inspire you to visit our friends who make them.

Typical Karst village and vineyard in Slovenia.

I've spent the past 12 years exploring many of the former Yugoslav countries. And while many people are still trying to figure out where all these "new" countries are, I am already looking past the borders and delving into the diversity and unique qualities of specific regions. So welcome to the Karst, one of my long time favorites. It's a captivating place filled with limestone caves, hidden castles & hill top villages, wind ripened prosciutto and the bold flavor of Teran wine (AKA Refošk). The Karst is located in the south western part of Slovenia, close by the Adriatic coast and just an hour south of the majestic Julian Alps     A one hour drive from the capital city of Ljubljana and travelers will find the backroads all to themselves. It's wonderful to find a place that has such a strong tourist infrastructure yet remains decidedly un-touristy. The regional tourism board has a helpful list of agrotourisms (offering both lodging and mouthwatering dinners) along with wineries, honey producers and prosciutto cellars that will keep stomachs full in this blissful place. The landscape is dotted with "gostilnas", local eateries that serve up generous portions of regional dishes. Wine lovers will find no shortage of cellars to visit. Start with the ubiquitous iron-rich Teran wine produced by nearly everyone wine maker (large or small) before heading down to village of Goce and then onto the adjacent Vipava valley.     But there's more to just food and wine around here. The hill town of Stanjel is a good starting point with its easy walking paths, local art gallery and a good value restaurant in its rebuilt castle. It's also a great place to get a glimpse into the art of stone carving with many artisans still practicing and displaying their works. One can even sign for a week-long class held in Stanjel. Deep underground in the karst landscape lies the Skocjan caves, the closest thing to Lord of Rings most people will come across in Europe, boasting a massive underground canyon. Tucked away amongst a vineyard is the 12th century stone church in the tiny village of Hrastovlje. The interior is adorned with wall-to-wall frescoes including a stunning version of Dance of the Macabre. Nearby is Gostilna Svab which serves an excellent bean & corn soup with fresh-baked bread that melts in the mouth. And even those who've seen one too many European castles can still appreciate Predjama, a castle that appears to have been carved out from the limestone cliffs. And did I mention a carriage ride and show put on by the famous Lipizzaner horses? The Karst has that to offer as well.     Andrew Villone is the owner of Roads Less Traveled Tours, specializing in Central and Eastern Europe. He's been running boutique small group and custom tours for the past seven years.

memories of a warm Welcome at the Batič estate.

Miha Batic’s great-grandfather made wine on his property in the old Austria. His grandfather made wine on the same property in Italy; Miha’s father, in his turn, in Yugoslavia, and now Miha makes wine with him in Slovenia. As Miha explains it, the rulers and their rules don’t matter so much as the land in the Vipava Valley that has been cultivated by his family since 1592. For him, as he explains his family’s wine to 60 appreciative guests at a tasting dinner in New York, it always comes back to the land, to nature.     The Batic winery lies on 18 hectares of land on the westernmost edge of Slovenia, 15 miles from the Italian border. Grapes are planted on the slopes edging the valley, where the dry breeze of the Mediterrean climate meets the Alpine chill. The Vipava Valley is historically known for its white wines—and Batic makes ageworthy Pinot Gris, as well as Chardonnay and Sauvignon—but Old World–style reds are produced as well: Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Indigenous varieties are blended with international in the Batic cuvée Bonisimus: Pinela, Rebula (known as Ribolla a few kilometers away in Italy), Chardonnay, and Pinot Gris. Zelen and Vitovska are also grown.     Batic father and son are clear that it’s the growing that matters—not the cellar. Wines are made in the fields. Batic wines are farmed organically, and regional tradition places importance on farming by the lunar cycle: knowing the effect of the cycle on planting, growing, racking, or bottling. Such biodynamic principles may be trendy elsewhere, but Miha explains their uses for potato growing as much as grape growing, and one has the sense this is just old-fashioned farming, looking to nature rather than science for guidance. “Every step is a step back to our roots.”     These wines are not “modern”—they are true to the land and the grape, and are made only in successful vintages, and in tiny quantities (most in the low thousands of bottles). Old ways, now newly popular, are used in the cellar, too. The wines are fermented on wild yeast, and sulfur is used sparingly, if at all. Red and white wines alike see oak—usually in three- to five-year-old Slovenian barriques, but Batic will soon move back to larger, old Slovenian barrels. The wine is nicely balanced, with an Old World oak profile that settles beneath the spicy fruit of the Merlot, and adds a touch of oxidative interest to the velvety body of Bonisimus.     Borders may shift, as well as winemaking trends, but the wine world is slowly coming full circle, and the old ways of land and nature may emerge as the one cutting-edge method that carries us forward. Batic has waited for 400 years.     (text and photo by Katerine Camargo, Camargo Wine Support LLC ©2010)

a great combo: lobster with Batic Cabernet Sauvignon Rose & Enjingi Grasevina.

Most of my Christmas’ are spent in Maine at my parents. Their house is on an island in the Atlantic, just off the coast. Winters are both beautiful and brutal. No matter how cold the wind, or rough the seas the seafood remains ridiculously fresh. This year brought a special surprise; soft shell lobster. These freshly molted “bugs” are the unquestionable pinnacle of the lobster world; super sweet and tender. You wont find them far from where they are caught as they are much more vulnerable, to even gentle travel, than there hard shelled brethren. There is no reason to get fancy with them. In fact you can faintly read “steam only, serve with butter” on some of their shells. So what do you drink with succulent lobster in this arctic cold? Big Chard is the standard prescription but we have forced this for years, unless you are drinking properly aged top tier Burgundy the pairing rarely works. So Cabernet of course!     The pairing logic: In a form this naked, lobster is best complemented by a soft, full bodied wine. We started with a decent feline scented Sauvignon Blanc from Chile, which the lobster made thin and astringent, so when I popped the two wines specifically selected for dinner, I did so with confidence.     The first was Ivan Enjingi’s 2003 Grasevina (Italian Riesling) from the continental region of Croatia. It could be argued that Enjingi is the Andy Warhol of wine. The 2003 Grasevina “Krasna Berba" (late harvest) is a liquid contradiction. Dense and alcoholic but savory, mineralic and complex. Not old world, nor new, Enjingi is “Other Worldly”. Grasevina is typically drunk fresh but the good ones will age like the diamond hard Semillon of Australia’s Hunter Valley. We caught this one in its adolescence, starting to show its maturity but still brash and bouncy. With the lobster it was the sauce. Herbal and rich, the wine complements the lobster as if made for it, and vice versa.     2007 Batic Rose of Cabernet Sauvignon – Vipava Valley, Slovenia. If Batic were a forge their Cabernet Sauvignon rose would be the Swiss army knife. It will appease the Cabernet narrow, fans of white zinfandel and hard core wine geeks. More texture than flavor, it is varietal cabernet without the color, tannins and smack. Musk, pepper and fruit are an unusual counterpoint to lobster but here it fits, actually accentuating the briny quality of the lobster. This is only a positive with the freshest of seafood. Ivan (wow I did not realize both producers share a first name) would love the combination, local, simply made and delicious.     Not expected, not traditional but perfectly suited. Cold weather is great for red wine but if the food demands; as it does in coastal Maine. Whites and Roses can too be kings.

Stetson and Krystin in Vienna, Austria

We're on a journey through the wine regions of Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. We're here in Austria right now and we have a lot to say (maybe too much), but not enough time to say it. So, enjoy watching our video describing what we've learned and found so far on our wine adventure.

--Stetson and Kristyn

We are about to enjoy a night of burgundy and food before we head off to Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. Our bags are packed and ready to go. I doubt we will be sleeping tonight, but that it is what the flight is for! We will try our best to blog about our journey daily, but if you don't hear from us...squawk!

A very special thanks to Frank and Zsuzsa of Blue Danube Wine Company who have made this trip possible. Words cannot describe how much we appreciate it.

--Stetson and Kristyn

Tamara Glavina with Roger and Cindy at Caffe Venezia in Berkeley.

This is what's called "Just In Time Delivery". When our guest Tamara Glavina, the wine maker of the top Slovenian winery Santomas, hopped on the plane to visit San Francisco for the first time in her life, our friends at IntoWineTV posted the video of the Santomas Big Red tasting on their web site. Then Roger and Cindy followed up with a delicious Slovenian wine maker dinner at Caffe Venezia in Berkeley.
What a nice way to welcome Tamara in California.     We always knew that the Santomas Big Red is a great wine but now our opinion has been confirmed by a group of expert tasters which gave it excellent ratings. Made from 100% Refosk, the Slovenian name for what Italians call Terlano and Croatians call Teran, it is easily recognizable by just looking at its deep purple color. The Big Red sports dark red cherry and black berry flavors. A good dose of acidity makes it an ideal wine to pair with many foods. But watch the show yourself and then pop a cork of this inexpensive beauty.          

Pages: (1)  2  3    >>