BURJA
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VIPAVA, Western Slovenia
The Slovenian wine story has been totally monopolized by a few superstars on the Italian border but a super exciting crew of totally awesome folks on the margins have finally pierced the mist of obscurity. One of the most impressive figures in this group is Primoz Lavrencic, a wickedly brainy dude who’s got a unique view on the wines of Vipava, a windswept, vine carpeted valley in Western Slovenia. The guy is reclaiming heritage varieties, returning to skin fermentation for whites, implementing tulip shaped concrete tanks, farming biodynamically and working without pumps in a subterranean cellar. It’s clear that Burja is positioned to become one of the benchmark wineries of Slovenia. These are distinctly Slovene wines that are super easy to love and punch way above their pricepoint. We’re fans.
PRODUCTS
BELA
This is a modern play on the tradition of ‘Vipavec,’ a piecemeal field blend in this case made from three different vineyards with all sorts of cofermentation. Two thirds aged in tulip-shaped concrete tanks and the rest in acacia and oak barrels.
ROZA
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Sivi Pinot AKA Pinot Gris destemmed and skin fermented for 7 days before pressing into steel and old barrels to finish fermenting and matured for 7 months before bottling.
ZELEN
Single vineyard bottling of the hyper-local Zelen variety, skin fermented for 7 days and pressed to tulip-shaped concrete tanks for aging.
STRANICE
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Sylvaner, Gelber Muskateller and Bacchus each picked and skin fermented separately with 6 weeks maceration before pressing together into 1200L Bavarian oak barrel for a year of lees aging before bottling without sulfite.