What the Bajta Belo Has in Common with My Cat
My little brother (by which I mean younger in that he stands something like 6’6″ or 6’7″) and I have a tradition going back to when I lived in DC. He’s always the one to pick me up from the airport when I visit. Then we go to Wendy’s, then Meijer (a MI/regional superstore). It’s changed a little over the years. Now he picks me up in Chicago instead of Grand Rapids and rather than Meijer (which I hit later for major shopping) we go to Siciliano’s.
It may sound like an Italian restaurant, but it is in fact a gourmet drinks shop. I first encountered it back in university as, among its many offerings, they carry a wide selection of loose leaf teas. We used to stop in for Russian black tea to take to our Russian literature and history professors who hosted our classes in their home. Since coming to wine, I’ve learned to love this shop for a whole different reason! Amazing selection of world wines. All the usual suspects of course but some really cool wines from lesser-known regions and places like Slovenia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, etc. If you’re in West Michigan, you should definitely check out this place. 
I was lucky enough to get my hands on the Kobal Wines Bajta Pet-Nat through a friend and loved it! Then seeing another bottle from Kobal Wines at Siciliano’s absolutely delighted me and of course I grabbed it up.
Kobal Wines
Kobal Wines is a small winery from the northeast Slovenia, near the Austrian border. So near, in fact, that they share a region? Kobal Wines’ vineyards are in the Slovenian Styria region. The winery sits near the town of Ptuj in the Haloze sub-wine region. They specialize in white wines, producing Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Furmint, Yellow Muscat, Traminer, Chardonnay, and Welschriesling; but also Blaufränkisch.
Their region is characterized by particularly hilly terrain with a continental climate characterized by hot summers and cold winters. The vineyards, range in age from 15 to 57 years of age, sit between 250 and 400 meters in mainly marl soils, and are farmed sustainably using environmentally friendly, integrated methods.
Kobal Wines Bajta Belo, 2020
Something I remember from my one trip to Slovenia is that they don’t like the terms “amber” or “orange” for skin contact wine. It’s white wine made with skin contact. Several people I spoke with there, in bottle shops and wine bars, felt very strongly about this terminology. Luckily, Kobal Wines gives a good back label so I was not taken unawares by the color of their Bajta Belo (belo meaning white).
A good back label yes, but I could have used a little more specifics. Barrel fermented (separately and spontaneously) Pinot Gris, Welschriesling, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc with 46 days skin contact (each? not sure), then aged for two years in neutral oak.
It poured a cloudy amber, like a good apple cider. Dr. Watson was quite intrigued to see a wine the same color she is!
Wow. Wow, wow, wow. An explosion of pear! and guava! followed by a jumble of flowers including perfumed jasmine and a suggestion of sun-warmed hay. Lightly tannic, like peach fuzz, on the palate with mouthwatering acidity. All the promises the bouquet made, the palate kept and then some. Dried meadow flowers and grasses and tobacco joined the fruit and flowers along with a surprising note of coffee lingering on the finish.
I’m headed back to the Mitten in a few months and, if Siciliano’s has another of these in stock, it will be mine!