THINKING OUTSIDE OF THE CHANNELS.
W.R. Tish: "Perhaps even more important, concept wines are providing a fresh edge of marketability. After two decades of passively allowing wine ratings to infiltrate the retail tier of the industry, sellers and shoppers alike now have a new way to think about the inherently fun, interesting product that wine is."
make no doubt: what's in the bottle counts.
100% genuine, top-quality, vintage dated, terroir driven, lot-selected, estate-bottled, hand-crafted, non-manipulated (NO importer's cuvees, marketing blends or bulk wines masquerading as 'fine wine') wines and spirits from small family producers.
"3.) Orange wines are over. (Hold your applause.) For those of you unfamiliar, probably most of you, orange wines are white wines where the juice is given extensive skin contact, like when your creepy aunt gives you a really long hug. Briefly hot in 2012, they burned out and died like "Gangnam" parodies." - eater.com
(terroir) vitovska.
what's inside the bottle?
do we know vitovska! we introduced vitovska to the usa and probably were the first to ship the very first cases of vitovska out of italy.
a restaurant in los angeles, ca, had asked us to buy 'some'. off to carso. we ended up with 120 bottles. and that's how we, the us and other importers - years later - got into vitovska, malvasia istriana, terrano, refosco, moscato, glera, and the italian part of carso.
back then (1991) people needed visas to get into kras (slovenia) but slovenian grapes didn't need any papers to slip into carso (italy). today, carso and kras are no longer divided and slowly but surely becoming known again as a single wine region. history repeated.
while most of the top-producers in carso have turned their whites into premium 'meditation wines' over the last 10 years or so, vinja barde, an estate south of trieste and part of the istrian peninsula, continues to produce truly terroir driven vitovskas and malvasias that are not only fresh and delicate but saline and minerally. they show at their best when matched with tasty seafood dishes.
so, how did we discover vinja barde? there used to be only a single vitovska reference in all of carso - for years on. it was the benchmark wine for us and all other producers in carso.
at the 2005 vinitaly edition a brand-new label surfaced: vinja barde's vitovska 2004. the estate's first release. the rest is history. the latest release is 2011.
a restaurant in los angeles, ca, had asked us to buy 'some'. off to carso. we ended up with 120 bottles. and that's how we, the us and other importers - years later - got into vitovska, malvasia istriana, terrano, refosco, moscato, glera, and the italian part of carso.
back then (1991) people needed visas to get into kras (slovenia) but slovenian grapes didn't need any papers to slip into carso (italy). today, carso and kras are no longer divided and slowly but surely becoming known again as a single wine region. history repeated.
while most of the top-producers in carso have turned their whites into premium 'meditation wines' over the last 10 years or so, vinja barde, an estate south of trieste and part of the istrian peninsula, continues to produce truly terroir driven vitovskas and malvasias that are not only fresh and delicate but saline and minerally. they show at their best when matched with tasty seafood dishes.
so, how did we discover vinja barde? there used to be only a single vitovska reference in all of carso - for years on. it was the benchmark wine for us and all other producers in carso.
at the 2005 vinitaly edition a brand-new label surfaced: vinja barde's vitovska 2004. the estate's first release. the rest is history. the latest release is 2011.
Orange wine hits a wall insidescoopsf.sfgate.com/blog/2013/01/1…
— iwine.* (@conceptwine) January 17, 2013
inside | srp: $37.50 | vinjabarde.com | twitter
"When people say they love coming to Nopa to try unusual wines, I often reply that I love working here for the same reason. Vitovska is one of those wines. We added this one a few weeks back, but I felt it needed some Nopalize love.
It’s from Carso, which is the Southeasternmost point in the Northeasternmost point in Italy. Friuli has always been one of my favorite regions, and while this is a bit more understated than the striking elegance of the whites (and reds) I have come to love from here. It is very clean wine, and a perfectly executed example of wine made in this fashion. You can read all about it below.
Vitovska is a Italian and Slovene wine grape planted in the Friuli area of NE Italy. The name of the grape is Slovenian in origin and is now mainly found in the lower Isonzo and Carso regions of the Friuli. The grape is thought to be a cross of the Prosecco grape, of sparkling wine fame, and Malvasia, generally producing a dry white wine. On arrival in the cellar the grapes are kept in an anaerobic environment to preserve aromas and fragrance. A short period of maceration is followed by fermentation in stainless steel at a controlled temperature, so that none of the vine’s subtle characteristics are lost. Malolactic fermentation is not carried out. After fermentation, the contact between wine and oxygen is rigorously avoided to reduce oxidation and the loss of freshness of the aromas. Delicate floral and mineral notes. Fresh and supple palate with a linear zing of acidity."
- Nopa Restaurant, San Francisco, CA
It’s from Carso, which is the Southeasternmost point in the Northeasternmost point in Italy. Friuli has always been one of my favorite regions, and while this is a bit more understated than the striking elegance of the whites (and reds) I have come to love from here. It is very clean wine, and a perfectly executed example of wine made in this fashion. You can read all about it below.
Vitovska is a Italian and Slovene wine grape planted in the Friuli area of NE Italy. The name of the grape is Slovenian in origin and is now mainly found in the lower Isonzo and Carso regions of the Friuli. The grape is thought to be a cross of the Prosecco grape, of sparkling wine fame, and Malvasia, generally producing a dry white wine. On arrival in the cellar the grapes are kept in an anaerobic environment to preserve aromas and fragrance. A short period of maceration is followed by fermentation in stainless steel at a controlled temperature, so that none of the vine’s subtle characteristics are lost. Malolactic fermentation is not carried out. After fermentation, the contact between wine and oxygen is rigorously avoided to reduce oxidation and the loss of freshness of the aromas. Delicate floral and mineral notes. Fresh and supple palate with a linear zing of acidity."
- Nopa Restaurant, San Francisco, CA
Though Vinja Barde is part of the Carso region, all of Vinja Barde's vineyards are actually situated in the Rosandra Valley on the Istrian Peninsula and not on top of the Carso plateau (mountain). The 2006 Vitovska continues to drink superbly...in 2012!. Nothing indicates that the wine will start to oxidize any time soon! (Tasted: April, 2012)
inside. vine and wine impressions.
carso. trieste. istria. terrano. vitovska. malvasia. refosco d'istria. elena. euro. marini.