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The tasting menu and apparently a complimentary pen.

Last Saturday, CAV hosted a tasting of Slovenian wines. Naturally, such a tasting wouldn't be proper without Frank Dietrich from Blue Danube Wine in attendance to point out the various facets of the extremely long list of wines. In case you missed it, stay up to date at the News & Events section on this site as well as my twits that I write about wines and events in San Francisco.     And what it list it was, drifting from whites to reds, to desserts. It showed that not only is Emil able to somehow talk these very small producers in to exporting, but also that Slovenia is really producing a great wealth of wines these days. Starting with such wines as the Guerila Pinela those in attendance wandered in to the Batič Cabernet Franc and Batič Rosso 2005 (which I hadn't tasted previously, but found to be one of my new favorite vintages). Then it was off to the bolder reds such as Santomas Big Red and Santomas Antonius to experience the great, full-bodied Refošk that the Slovenes on the coast are producing. Closing all of this was a taste of the Batič Valentino which is a delightful, nutty dessert wine.     It looked to me that all in attendance were really enjoying exploring these wines. And while this was merely a week long tasting stretch, the good news is that CAV regularly stocks these wines as well as a great number of Croatian wines to enjoy anytime. While it can get a big packed in the evening due to popularity, CAV is a good place to check out anytime, since they always put together interesting wine lists.

As seen on TV: the Kogl Mea Culpa Saemling 2007.

These days wine blogs are almost passé, Twitter is on the go, Wine TV is in, and social wine sites mushroom. Witness the many new entries in this field. I was made aware of yet another social site called IntoWine.com with a wine tasting TV section build in when its founder Brad Prescott contacted us. He was planning to produce a future segment on "Wines from Strange Places". Well, that sounded a little better than the usual "Weird Wines of the World" so we complied and offered a selection of our wines from Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, and Croatia to be put through the ringer by an illustrious tasting panel at an equally illustrious place, namely the Incanto Restaurant in San Francisco.          The first episode from this shooting has been posted and you can watch it here. It features a wine made by one of my favorite Slovenian producers, master vintner Franci Cvetko of the Kogl estate in the North-Eastern Podravje wine region. It's a Saemling (AKA Scheurebe) mainly found in Germany in a fruity style and sometimes in Austria as a dessert wine. In the hands of Franci Cvetko it joins his Mea Culpa line-up of elegant dry white wines with a rather filigrane (filigree) structure and subtle flinty fruit.

Barrel tasting in Slovenia's oldest wine cellar, Ptujska Klet.

[This trip was taken in early May. It was organized by an importer for whom my husband is a consultant.]     The three of us wind through the streets of Ptuj in the car, past the hilltop castle, a monastery, and countless unknown wonders. We won't see anything in Slovenia's oldest town (mentioned by Tacitus in AD 69) except Slovenia's oldest wine cellar, Ptujska Klet, which can be traced back to the year 1239. When we arrive, we are given first the tourist treatment, then the behind-the-scenes tour. As tourists, we walk through a cold cellar beneath the visitor center and tasting rooms, where there are rows of oval wooden barrels taller than I am, rich dark-chocolate wood trimmed in forest green, with picturesque scenes of winemaking carved (recently) on the barrel heads. We also see the famous wine archive, where wines dating back to 1917 are stored, recorked every twelve years. Tito drew wines from this archive, and anyone fairly young can still buy a wine from their birth year, back to at least the 1950s, in the shop next to the tasting rooms. There we spot a wine from my husband's birth year--a welschriesling from 1959--for 600 euros. (Can it possibly still be drinkable?) I should state right now that Ptujska Klet's wines are not yet available in the U.S.--the notes below are just a tease.     In the tasting room, we are joined by Bojan Kobal, the enthusiastic and amiable thirty-year-old enologist, who takes us through the lineup. Ptujska Klet is clean and modern in its winemaking. The semi-cooperative operation buys from 140 growers. Importantly, it can afford to select the best fruit, all picked by hand and grown under a program of restricted chemical use prescribed by the winery. This is the Maribor region of Slovenia, where wine production is 80% white, of which some 50% is welschriesling. Our later walk through the working cellars, with numerous stops for barrel and tank samples, suggests much experimentation going on here; on the higher end (the Nobl line), the production is quite small, at 600 cases or so. Of the whites tasted upstairs, the most interesting are:     "Noblesse," a rumeni muskat (yellow muscat) with a beautiful muscat nose, off-dry and fairly simple, but with a lingering perfume.     "Nobl" Cuvee 2005, of traminer, chardonnay, and sauvignon blanc--a tank sample with a long finish and a layer of sweet barrique oak that will mellow after bottling.     "Nobl" 2005 Traminer (last year's Slovenian dry wine champion), an oily, almost-full body and honeyed mineral flavor, with slight lychee/floral notes--good character and depth. For this wine, half the grapes were raisined at picking, and the halves were fermented separately, then blended.     Red wines are only 15% or so of the winery's production. We taste a few pale pinots and a couple of blaufrankisch, of which the 2004, with a red plum and rosehip nose and an earthy, black-pepper finish is most pleasant. We taste a more impressive sample in the cellar, though, from a barrel that will be bottled in '09.     The tourist complex winds into the rest of the cellars, which extend beneath the city streets for blocks and bring us up beneath the winery a five-minute walk across town. We pass more giant oval barrels and barriques, plus an aisle of glass-lined concrete tanks, and row upon row of stainless steel tanks of various sizes, from which we taste another dozen samples, including a couple of pinot noirs with promise (more extract than those mentioned above), a sweet muscat and an excellent sweet German riesling. It's cold down here--I can see my breath as we examine thousands of bottles cellared in square brick bins on the floor, all coated in thick black mold, even the fairly recent vintages of the 90s.     We return with out host, Marko, to his home in central Slovenia, for a homemade lunch of light chicken broth with short, straight noodles; green salad dressed in local pumpkin seed oil; veal in a bath of savory brown gravy, accompanied by sour cream and blackcurrant jam; and marvelous, billowing pillows of layered dumpling dough filled with a mild, ricotta-like cheese. Thus fortified, we depart by car for Istria.

a guided tour through Slovenia's wine regions - Vipava Valley

This blog entry is a shameless plug for a guided tour through Slovenia's wine regions, commencing on October 10 to 18 or on a second date, November 7 to 15, 2008.     If you have never been to Slovenia this is your chance to visit her vineyards in style. Just take a look at this gorgeous brochure and you'll see that Slovenia could be considered the Promised Land - if not of milk and honey then of excellent wine and gourmet food. This tour is not cheap but worth it if you can shell out $7,380 PLUS airfare. At least you don't have to bring some change to buy a glass of wine. Enjoy your trip!     Let me just add that I had the good fortune to travel through Slovenia's wine country with Emil Gaspari, our importer friend and owner of Slovenian Premium Wines. Emil knows and loves his home country and he was a superb guide to the estates of his portfolio. What a pleasant and informative way to get to know the wine makers and their terroir.

One of the best wine blogs on the net.

Alder over at Vinography just wrote a great article summing up the merits of a number of the Slovenian wines we carry. Some of his favorites included, 2005 Kogl "Mea Culpa", 1999 Batić Reserve Pinot Gris, and 2004 Batić Pinot Gris Riserva. He went on to elicit, "Any wine lover who enjoys white wines I strongly urge to seek out some Slovenian wine and give it a try." Don't take our word for it though and read his entire article. It's a great summation of the Slovenian wine industry and the very high quality wines that they are producing and we are happy to import.     Probably the only thing we'd add is that Slovenian is not just about the whites. There are a great many reds that we feel warrant a lingering, enjoyable tasting.

Two of the American Wine Blog Award winners

Winners of the second annual American Wine Blog Awards were announced yesterday by Tom Wark who writes the wine blog Fermentation and who started them two years ago to give recognition to dedicated wine bloggers and stimulate new ones to start.     Among the winners we found one of our favourite wine blogs, San Francisco's acclaimed Vinography by Alder Yarrow, who won the awards for best overall wine blog and best wine blog writing. Not only is Vinography an excellent source of information and inspiration on restaurants and wine bars in San Francisco, but he has also reviewed several Austrian and Slovenian wines in the past, as well as one of our favourite Croatia whites, Bibich's Debit. We strongly suspect that he's been getting more into Croatian and Slovenian wines lately, since he celebrated the award with a bottle of Malvazija from Koper (perhaps by Santomas?).     Other winners of the American Wine Blog Awards included Good Wine Under $20 (best wine review blog and best single subject blog), Tablas Creek (best winery blog), The Wine Collector (best wine business blog), Chateau Petrogasm (best wine blog graphics), and Grape Radio (best wine podcast/video blog). Grape Radio is an excellent podcast (an online audio blog) that a while back devoted a very interesting show (click here to listen to it) to the Hungarian winery Disznókő, which produces really good quality Tokaji (such as this one or this one).     Twenty-four blogs in eight categories made it to the finals for the awards. Nominations were made by voters, and then winnowed down by a panel of 6 judges, followed by a vote of both the public and the judges to determine the winners. The public's tally got 70 percent of the weighting, with 30% of the voting power given to the judges. According to Wark, the judges were Jack Everitt, of the Fork & Bottle blog; Dan Fredman, of Dan Fredman Public Relations; Steve Heimoff, Wine Enthusiast Magazine's West Coast editor; Derrick Schneider, Obsession With Food blogger; Wolfgang Webber, Wine & Spirits Magazine's associate editor and blogger, and Tori Wilder, of Wilder PR.     Tom Wark, who said that currently there are more than 700 American Wine blogs, commented on the winners: "Anyone who has been paying attention to the development of the world of wine blogs will likely recognize the winners of the 2008 American Wine Blog Awards. They represent a variety of things in this world: The Standard, The Expert, The Innovators, The Dedicated".     For a more detailed description of all the winners, check the announcement, or if you're curious to see who the finalists were for each catergory, here's the complete list, which will provide you with a lot of good wine reading.

Yesterday's article by Corie Brown in the L.A. Times, From Slovenia? Wild, wild wines speaks enthusiastically of wines from Slovenia, a region that "is getting hotter by the minute". The article highlights the boldness of Slovenian winemakers, who are young, experimenting and obtaining some really good results. Revered wine expert expert Jancis Robinson is quoted to have said after her recent trip to Slovenia:     "They are quite anarchic and individual in their use of oak and, to my mind, are making more distinctive wines than most of their neighbors in [Italy's] Friuli."     Brown also spoke to Pieter Verheyde, head sommelier at Bastide in West Hollywood, one of the best restaurants in the Los Angeles area that have embraced Slovenian wines in their wine list. For Verheyde, "they're lively and complex with unexpected flavors", and bring diversity to Bastide's 1,400 label list. He pairs the Santomas Malvazija with a ceviche of scallops, the Refošk with dry aged beef, and the Movia Pinot Noir with Hawaiian sea bass. It all sounds delicious.     The two winemakers that the article talks most about are also the most famous ones in the US. Aleš Kristiančić from Movia is one of the biggest producers in Slovenia, with a production of 10,000 cases of wine a year from 57 acres of vineyards that would be considered tiny by American standards. Movia, established in 1970, is also the oldest private winery in the country and has been selling wines to the US for almost 10 years.     Another famous Slovenian winemaker is Joško Gravner whose wines, according to Silver Lake Wine co-owner George Cossette, have introduced many adventurous enthusiasts to Slovenian wines. Gravner is the one that started the amphora project - in which Gravner ferments his wines in clay jugs buried up to their necks in the ground in homage to ancient Roman tradition. "Gravner is stripping away the human intervention to create minimalist art," Cossette says.     The article concludes saying that although not many Americans know where Slovenia is, let alone its wines, selling them requires more time than with other wines, and customers need to taste the wines and take the time to get to know them. But it is that sense of discovery, of adventure, that makes them so exciting.     If you haven't had the chance to try Slovenian wines, or if you are not convinced yet, the L.A. Times article came with extensive tasting notes of a great selection of both whites and reds, including some that you can get through Blue Danube Wines:     -2004 Batic Pinot Gris Reserve: "A weird and wonderful wine from Vipava, with delicate aromas of sesame seeds, herbs and wildflowers. It has good acidity and a lingering fresh apple finish".     -2004 Santomas Malvazija: "From the Koper district in Primorska, a richly aromatic wine with a round mouth feel, zippy fresh pineapple and other tropical fruit flavors".     -2005 Guerila Pinela: "From the Vipava district in Primorska, a delicate honey-toned wine with stony Chablis-like minerality".     -2003 Kogl Magna Dominica Albus: "A blend of equal parts Auxerrois, Riesling and Yellow Muskat, this wine has inviting peach aromas and a taste of honey".

Yes, it is indeed hidden, but you can find it.

The Hidden Vine is a perfectly-named wine bar in San Francisco. Sitting on the edges of Nob Hill, The Tenderloin, and Union Square, owners and master hosts, Angela and David Cahill pour wines for the masses with, what cannot be stated in any better terms than "down home" hospitality. Amazingly, no matter how busy it is on any given night, you will always feel like you are their only guest and they are very excited to show you what new wines they have that month. Ah yes, that's an important element to their wine bar that's always fun in that they feature a different region each month to taste, so in addition to their wine list always being updated and tweaked, returning guests can enjoy something brand new, 12 times a year. But more on this in a little bit.     The history of their wine bar starts back on the East Coast. David and Angela bopped around New Jersey, Maryland, and North Carolina for awhile. It was in Chapel Hill that they encountered the West End Wine Bar. They had great times there and liked the whole setup of the place. They had had the idea to work in wine for some time and so they came out to the West Coast with this idea in mind.     In February, 2005, they officially opened up their doors as, The Hidden Vine. With all of the wine bars sprouting up in San Francisco that seem to be some play on 'vine', 'wine', 'uva', or the like, the name may seem too clever for its own good to those who haven't visited the bar. But, it is true that they are rather hidden, basically in the basement of the The Fitzgerald Hotel, their main entrance being on Cosmo Alley (pictured above) right across from Le Colonial. It's definitely a cozy space, where groups over five are tricky to fit in, but they make it work exceptionally well, bedecking it in big overstuffed chairs and nice, warm colors that ask you to sit, be mellow and have a glass with friends. And as they say on their website, their focus is to have it be low-key. You never have to shout over your glass of wine to your companions sitting next to you.     But cozy, "speakeasy-esque" setting aside, it is really the choice of wines that make this bar, and it is where the real enjoyment begins with The Hidden Vine. Their regular menu always has stellar choices in both glasses and bottles, covering an array of prices, regions, and varietals, both in the old and the new world. However, it is their featured regions of the month where the fun is for anyone who visits their wine bar regularly (such as the author of this article...), which gives them an opportunity to try wines and varietals from regions that they might have never tried before. For instance, I was in no hurry to try the wines of Washington State only to be pleasantly surprised at the selection of whites and reds that the duo of Cahill and Cahill chose for that month.     Some of the regions that have been featured in over their nearly three years in the business include: Germany, New Zealand, North Eastern Spain, Portugal, Southern Italy, South Australia, West Australia, Oregon, Argentina, Bordeaux, and Austria to name just a few. The last of which, Blue Danube supplied a number of tasty vintages for. Currently, they are featuring wines from Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, and Montenegro, which Blue Danube has been happily supplying. People have been enjoying the likes of the Törley as well as Batić, Dingač, Kozlović, and Plantaže. They tell me that people have been very interested in the wines overall and greatly enjoying the Kozlović Malvazija and Törley Fortuna while excitedly learning about the link of Californian Zinfandel to the Dingač Plavac Mali that they're pouring. For those interested to partake, they will continue to pour through all of December and possibly in to January when they do a recap of their favorite wines for the year.     These wines they have selected are not the standard fare found in other wine bars and when asked why they decided to choose these wines now, Angela said that they like to balance out traditional regions with those that are new for most people or being discovered. This set of wines from Eastern Europe are giving them a jumping off point for possibly more in the future. Speaking of the future, some of the regions regulars have to look forward to in 2008 might include a return to Austria, another part of Spain, and maybe some other US States.     So, at their essence, The Hidden Vine is a wine bar that continues to have great service, great wines, great cheese/meat plates, and blindingly good olives (which seem to be impossible to find in other places). When asked if they had any far-ranging plans for the future other than these consistently great goals, David simply said, "Nope." which is the best thing any of us could ever hope for.

    Wine expert and co-owner George Cossette of Silverlake Wine in Hollywood decants Croatian and Slovenian wines from the Adriatic region for L.A. radio station KCRW. The station aired an interview with him in the show "Good Food" hosted by Evan Kleiman. You can listen to the entire show at the KCRW web site or download the interview only (5MB) as an mp3 file here.     During a recent Sunday wine tasting, George featured these unique wines in his store and sold almost every bottle in stock.     Here is the good news: Silverlake Wine has all these nice wines back in stock. So come on down...

Over a summer, two travelers drink their way through the wines of Mediterranean Europe          We cut across the Croatian border to Slovenia to stay with some family there in Slovenska Bistrica. On a previous trip, they had mentioned that their neighbor was a wine maker and that we might be interested to check out his winery. Whether it was fear of someone with a barrel in the garage they aged weekly or just lack of time, we didn't get to it. This trip however, we made a proper visit to Vehovar Winery and were duly impressed.     The winery is family-run affair with the father, Boris, at the helm. His two sons Sebastian and Isidor showed us around. They started up a new cellar in 1996 that has a 90,000 liter capacity and is 11 meters (36 feet) underground at the deepest point. Unfortunately due to a disastrous hail storm last year, they were only using 12,000 liters of that capacity.     Their white wine production currently consists of Traminec, Riesling, Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Sivi (grey), Rumeni, Muškat, and Šipon. They do an ice harvest as well, but to add to the misery of the hail storm last year, the weather hasn't been cold enough for the last two years to be a certified ice wine. For the record, in Slovenia, it has to be -10C for four days to qualify. But to liven things up, they have planted 150 new red vines of Modra Frankija to try out. Of course, these won't be ready for a good many years, so we'll have to wait and see how the red does in this region.     The family was gracious enough to take us on a tasting tour of their wines as well while we were there. We started with the 2005 Treh Kraljev (Three Kings) which has some chardonnay notes to the nose. It has a soft body that then clears out in to a similar finish. It's something of a 'stolno' or table wine that's for general drinking they told us.     From there, it was the Yellow Rumeni Muškat from 2006. It has a great nose. It's slightly sweet, but still balanced and tasty. With more air, some really nice herbs move in as aromas. This all carries in the body and is very satisfying. The finish is clean and very refreshing.     We took a step back in time with the 1998 Traminec. The nose was strong with soft pear aromas. There was a touch of oakiness to it despite the fact it spent no time in wood. With air, a touch of honey developed in it. As it opened up more, this all carries in to the body which was a good deal sweeter than the nose. The finish had more effervescence to it than the other wines we tasted.     For comparison, we had the 2005 Traminec, which happened to be the Izbor or 'select' version of this vintage. It had a rather strong 60 grams of sugar to it that you could easily taste. There was a lot of honey in the nose and the body was very naturally fruit-filled. Despite this, it was definitely a much younger tasting grape even when not comparing it to the 1998. There are however many similarities and it was like all the same flavors are there, but with a good deal of youthful brashness.     We closed with the Laški Riesling Suho Izbor. All of that translates in to a very high quality wine with a massive 165 grams of sugar in it. This also happened to be one of their last ice harvests. It basically boils down to it being outstandingly delicious and one would hope so given that the same grapes used to get 250 liters for this wine usually produce 5,000 liters of a normal wine. The body has this lush oily honey quality to it. The nose is rather light and betrays just a little of the deep quality of the body. The finish is wonderfully clean and washes away all the sugar. A wonderful wine, but it had better be at 40 Euros when all the others are less than 5 Euros!     All in all, it was a great tasting that the next time we visit our family there, we'll have to add to and see how their other wines are coming along.

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