Advent Wine Challenge Day 14: Klabjan Refošk
Of all the wines I’m talking about this Advent, this one is perhaps the most appropriate. How can a wine be appropriate for Advent? No, there’s no such thing as Advent wine. But…I bought this one in Slovenia a few years ago when I visited for the Ljubljana Christmas markets…during Advent.
Advent day 14
Klabjan Refošk, 2015
Produced in the Kakovostno ZGP of Istria, 20 kilometers from Triest, Italy. Uroš Klabjan believes strongly in no intervention farming and winemaking. He ferments all his wines on the skins (reds and whites) and his wines undergo spontaneous fermentation with native yeasts.
I opened this feeling mildly concerned it would be past its best drinking time but I needn’t have worried. Wow what a wine. Blackberry, laurel, violet, and tea filled my nose as I swirled the deep, ruby liquid. Sipping was like so much silk filling my mouth. Vibrant acidity bursting with berry fruits, violet potpourri, and black pepper against a backdrop of woody forest herbs.