Vina Colja Zelen 2017
Last December I met up with several friends in Ljubljana. We were there for the Christmas market (I try to visit one every year) and so that I could tick Slovenia off my former Yugoslavia country list. But most importantly, we were there for wine. A whirl-wind trip lasting just a few days, I nonetheless managed to discover a variety of Slovenian wineries and grapes. Vina Colja was one of those wineries.
Part of the Primorska wine region along the Italian border, Vina Colja sits in the Vipava Valley. Sixty percent of the winery’s vineyards is planted to white grape varieties including Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Malvasia, Zelen, and Pinella. While the internet did not give up a lot of information about the winery, happily it proved more enlightening about the grape, Zelen.
Zelen, native to the Primorska region, takes its name from its color; “zelen” meaning “green” in Slovenian. This low-yielding variety nearly disappeared last century. However, in the early 2000s, a group of Slovenian producers banded together to reinvigorate the grape variety, forming the Zelen Consortium. Thanks to them, the grape is on the rise again in both popularity and quality.
Vina Colja Zelen 2017 Tasting Notes
So how was the Vina Colja Zelen? My experience with this grape encompasses two, maybe three wines so its hard to say comparatively, but overall I thought it was rather delightful.
A pretty pale straw in the glass the wine began with aromas of pear, citrus peel, and flint. Sipping revealed lots of pear flavors accompanied by wet stone and splashes of citrus. Moderate alcohol at 12.5% abv with a roundness hinting a bit a sur lie ageing and a clean zing of acidity.
A very pleasant if not overly complex wine.