Tag: carso

Clean and Pure Amber Wine From the Carso Region of Italy

Today’s Wine: Azienda Agricola Škerk

Azienda Agricola Škerk is a small family-owned winery situated very close to the Slovenian border in the Carso region of Friuli-Venezia-Giulia in northeastern Italy. The winery is run by father and son Boris and Sandi Škerk, and they focus on the varieties of Malvasia, Vitovska, Sauvignon, and Terrano. The Škerk family cultivates seven hectares of vineyards, with densely-planted but low-yielding vines that see rigorous pruning but minimal treatments and no chemical fertilizer additions. Come harvest, everything is done by hand and the minimal intervention practices continue into the cellar. The wines ferment in contact with the skins using only indigenous yeasts, and there are no added enzymes or other winemaking additions. Sandi adds little to no SO2 throughout the winemaking process, and the wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered in an effort to showcase the varieties and a true sense of place. Škerk produces about 1,700 cases per vintage across four wines, including the Vitovska, Malvasia, Ograde (blend of Vitovska, Malvasia, Sauvignon, and Pinot Grigio), and Terrano.

Today’s Wine: 2018 Vitovska

100% Vitovska; 12% ABV

The 2018 Vitovska is pale amber in color. Given some time to blossom in the glass, this opens up with aromas of medium intensity. The nose showcases notes of peach, dried apricot, orange marmalade, perfumed florals, white mushroom, herbs de Provence, and wet slate. Meanwhile the flavors are also of medium intensity, with the palate displaying notes of apricot, mandarin orange, tangerine, honey, eucalyptus, saline, and a hint of smoke. This dry amber wine is light- to medium-bodied with medium (+) acidity, no noticeable tannins, medium alcohol, and a medium length finish.

Price: $40. This is only my second Vitovska from the Carso region in Northeastern Italy, so while I am still exploring how this stacks up on a value perspective it is a very fun, delicious, pure, and well-made wine that I do recommend trying. Great balance to this wine.

Fun but Beautiful Italian “Orange” Wine

Today’s Story: Vodopivec

Vodopivec is a boutique winery established in the Carso region of northeastern Italy by Paolo Vodopivec. The estate consists of six hectares of vineyards, planted entirely to the Vitovska variety and farmed adhering to organic principles with the use of some biodynamic methods. Simply put, Paolo views himself as an observer and never irrigates his vineyards, transports top soil, or uses synthetic chemicals, herbicides, or pesticides. In a given vintage, Paolo will produce one to four wines depending on conditions, though he seems to average one to two wines per vintage. Paolo is not a man to force his vines into production either, and may skip a vintage if the conditions are poor (the rainy 2008 vintage, for example, yielded no wines). Paolo is minimally invasive in the cellar, pressing with a manual basket press and allowing his wines to naturally ferment on the skins in Georgian amphora. The wines age in large Slavonian oak botti for 2-3 years, then spend another year or so in bottle before release. While production varies vintage to vintage, Paolo will generally only reach 11,000 bottles (about 916 cases) at maximum.

Today’s Wine: 2010 Vitovska

100% Vitovska; 12.5% ABV

The 2010 Vitovska is medium amber in color. It’s transparent but a touch hazy due to small amounts of sediment in the bottle, but you can filter this out. Aromas are of medium intensity, with the nose showcasing notes of ripe apricot, peach, tangerine, mandarin orange, white florals, dried thyme, basil, wet stone, and a hint of crushed rock minerality. Meanwhile the flavors are also of medium intensity, with the palate offering notes of dried apricot, orange zest, peach, honeysuckle, dried green herbs, and saline mineral. This dry “orange” wine is light- to medium-bodied with medium (+) acidity, light tannins, medium alcohol, and a long finish. Destemmed and fermented in Georgian amphora with 6 months of skin contact.

Price: $60 (I paid $35). This is a very fun, pure, and well-made wine that, while I haven’t had enough wines like it to determine a value proposition, I think is worth trying. The balance and sense of place coming from the glass is both very impressive and inviting. I plan to buy more, especially at $35.