Sumenjak - Alter, Štajerska, Slovenia (2020)

TASTING NOTES

Amber in the glass with notes of clementines and tangerines, subtle pot pourri and bitter pomelo. A long, bright finish. 

A blend of organically-farmed Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscaris from marl and sandstone soils. Grapes were hand-harvested and co-fermented on the skins using native yeasts in open vats, followed by a 24 month aging period in barrique. Unfined, unfiltered with no SO2.

In the northeast portion of the country, nearer the border with Austria than Italy, the Šumenjak estate is beset among the wine-rich Slovene hills, technically a part of Lower Styria, a thirty-minute drive north of the city of Maribor. It is a picturesque region of Europe, with bucolic vistas that immediately bring to mind the sense of verdant peace recalled by some of the best that pastoral literature has to offer.