Batič Angel Belo, as Heavenly as its Name
When possible, I like to visit a Christmas market somewhere in Europe during Advent. We don’t get a lot of Christmas in Turkey as one might suspect. This year was Colmar and past trips have included Graz (specifically for the Krapus Lauf), Prague, London, and Ljubljana. And that is where I got this particular bottle of Batič Angel Belo. As far as Christmas markets went, Ljubljana’s disappointed. But the city, food, and wine did not!
Located in Vipava, Primorje not so very far from the Italian border, the first Batič wines were born in the 16th century. Here, the monks of the Batič estate in Šempas made communion wine. Now in private hands, this biodynamic winery produces wines resulting from indigenous yeast fermentation. Extended maceration, uncontrolled temperature fermentation, and fermentation and ageing are hallmarks of their wines.
Their 19 hectares, located across the villages Šempas, Vogrsko, and Vitovlje, grow a wide range of both native and international grapes including:
- White: Pinela, Zelen, Rebula, Vitovska, Klarnica, Rumeni Muškat, Chardonnay, Sauvignon, Malvazija, and Laški Rizling
- Black: Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot
If memory serves, I bought this in Ljubljana’s duty free. A friend suggested letting it rest for at least another year (this was 2018). Since I hoard my foreign wines like they’ll never be made again, that was no problem. I ended up saving it for four years and only just opened it this summer for my birthday.
And wow. What a wine with which to celebrate!
Batič Angel Belo, 2016
The winery hasn’t updated its website past the 2011 vintage, but one can assume that they used more or less the same grapes (Pinela, Chardonnay, Malvazija, Rebula, Laški Rizling, Zelen, and Vitovska). Prior to blending, the grapes underwent between one and five days maceration then matured for 36 months in Slovenian barrels.
I had some ideas about what I thought this wine was going to be – and it was nothing like anything I thought. It poured a deep, clean gold with layer after layer of aromas unfolding. Saline, laurel, yellow fruit, wax, sweet hay, dried wildflowers, and tobacco flower all came hurtling out of the glass. Texturally, the wine was pure, creamy silk. Brown spices and pink pepper joined the flavors sensed on the nose with spicy, floral honey and caramel developing as the wine lived in the glass ending in a long, lingering finish of Easter lilies.
Truly a remarkable wine.
Don’t forget to get a copy of The Essential Guide to Turkish Wine for the wine/travel/adventure lovers in your life (or for yourself!) before Christmas! The Essential Guide to Turkish Wine is available globally from Amazon and in Istanbul from TheQuirkyCork.com, La Cave, Comedus, Mahzen 26, Santé Wine & More, Mensis Mahzen, Dekante, Wayana, Homer Kitap Evi, Minoa, and Mephisto.