Slovenia – Movia Lunar 2008

Every time I visit my parents in law, before heading back to France I usually make a short trip to Slovenia. Twenty minutes by car and in reward you receive a lot of advantages: good and cheap food (especially meat), cheap gasoline and great wines. So, at every occasion, I surf a bit on internet and then I plan my trip in order to pass by the producer I have chosen to discover.

In this period I am particularly interested in organic and biodynamic agriculture and, if you google these words, Movia will be at the first position.

The result? Here I am, tasting one of the two bottles I bought there. A white wine, son of the … Moon.

Domaine and vineyard

“Be genuine, respect Mother Earth and do not stand in its way”. That is why Movia is more than merely a brand. It is nature's agent in your wine glass, in you. The Movia estate has existed since 1700 and has been in the hands of the Kristančič family since 1820 following a wedding. The estate covers 18 hectares of land, half of which lie on the Italian side of the Collio. After World War II the vineyards remained in the family's hands, allowing the continuation of this tradition in the Brda. Our wine's quality allowed the Kristančič family to become exclusive suppliers of wine for state protocol events in the former SFR Yugoslavia in 1958. In keeping with the family's decades of winemaking endeavour, Aleš honed his skills in Bordeaux and in Burgundy, returning back home with the idea of a completely different concept of wine production, enriched with new knowledge of modern winemaking and marketing concepts. It was on the basis of these new ideas that the historical breakthrough of Slovenian wines began.

The Movia and Vila Marija brands are among the most important and most frequently awarded wines in South-Eastern Europe. One fifth of the Kristančič family's annual production is sold domestically, while all of their remaining products are sold to Western European markets. Movia wines are produced with the highest measure of respect towards nature, no fining, no filtration.

The wine

Movia Lunar comes from vines aged 29 years average. Concerning the Vinification, it consists in a late harvest, hand-picked, short vine-to-fermentation times (max. 2h). The grapes are destemmed by hand and placed in new oak barrels with custom caps. Fermentation begins in the berries themselves, which gradually release the wine. After 8 months of maturing, at full moon, the wine is gravity racked into bottles, no added sulphur, no filtration, no pressing. This is as close as it gets to the wine ancient man found in nature. The wine matures 8 months in customized 220 litre French oak barrels and is fined for 6 months in bottles.

Tasting Note

Date	15 December 2014
Wine name	LUNAR	Vintage	2008
Nation	Slovenia	Region	Brda
AOC-DOC	Brda	Grape Varieties	Ribolla
Serving temperature	12° C	Alcohol	13
Price (in euro)	25	SO2 (in mg/l)	14

Visual Examination		Taste analysis
Limpidity	Veiled	Body	Full
Color	Golden Yellow/Amber	Balance	Balanced
Consistency	Quiet consistent	Soft sensations	Quite Warm – Quite Soft
Effervescence	//	Hard sensations	Fresh  – Quiet Tasty
		Flavors intensity	Quite intense
Olfactory analysis		Flavors	Yellow fruits, Wood, Grapes
Aroma intensity	Quiet Intense
Complexity	Complex	Finish/Persistence	Persistent
Quality	Fine	Overall evaluations
Aromas	Yellow fruits, wood	Development	Ready
		Harmony	Harmonious

Food pairing

In local tradition a great pairing is with roasted chestnuts. Apart from that, white meats or young to fresh cheese will pair perfectly with this wine. Or is would be wonderful enough just solo.

Tasting this wine has provided me with a huge amount of different sensations. Just reading its history, the way the Kristančič make it and the philosophy of the family itself it becomes very difficult to stand indifferent to this wine.

I open the bottle and in my glass I pour a veiled liquid with such no perfumes. I have to wait just a few seconds, giving time to the wine to open its bouquet, to feel from the nebulous I have in the glass the succession of aromas arising: wood, yellow fruits. The first sip moves into my mouth the aroma of wood, immediately overcome by the light bitterness typical of this grape and concluded by a long aftertaste of … grape.

I have thought more and more times about this wine. In effect, behind the communication and the marketing what we have here is a natural product, a … grape juice, with the man as simple guest and executor of what nature says. So, why paying 25 euros for such a bottle? Because not everybody can take a product of the nature, leave it unaltered, help it to become perfect and make its life longer. And Movia succeeded in that. 

Buy it again? Yesssss.

Official website: www.movia.si