From Slovenia: the 2004 Movia Ribolla

I wanted to try this wine because I remembered the excellent 2004 Movia Tocaj Gredic that I had last year at my Wines of Germany and Eastern Europe class.

The producer is the Movia Estate, one of the largest wineries in Slovenia's Brda region. The estate is made of fifteen hectares of vineyards, including seven right across the border, in Italy's Collio region (Brda is the Slovenian name for Collio and means hills). Movia has been an independent winery since 1820 and the winery owner, Ales Kristancic, was among the first winegrowers in the area to market their wines under their own brand name.

What Ales Kristancic is looking for is a complete fusion between wine, land and people. He farms his vineyard using biodynamic methods and ages his white wines in Slovenian oak casks, leaving them on the lees without stirring for more than two years. The 2004 Movia Ribolla is 100% Ribolla Gialla, one of the major indigenous white grapes from Italy's Friuli region. The name Ribolla may come from the word re-boil in Italian because the grape tends to re-ferment in spring when it gets warmer. Gialla simply means yellow. The grape is also known as Rebula on the Slovenia side.

The wine had a bright golden color. The nose was attractive with stone fruit aromas. The palate was round with some weight and subdued flavors of apple and pear. But I have to say that I was slightly disappointed by the wine. I was expecting much more acidity and fresher flavors. Maybe it was too much oak, maybe too much lees. Who knows?

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