Slovenia – Movia Modri Pinot 2007

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 it is the second one, a difficult and ambitious wine: the Pinot Noir.

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 Modri Pinot comes from vines aged 30 years average. Concerning the Vinification, it consists in a late harvest, hand-picked, short vine-to-fermentation times (max. 2h). Beginning of fermentation in large fermentation tanks with natural yeast picked out from the same grapes harvested during pre-harvesting (5 %). Maceration takes place from 3 to 4 weeks till the completion of fermentation until the cap of grape skins sinks to the bottom of the tank and clears the wine naturally. The wine is thus ready for a long and fully active life in barriques, without decanting. Quiet fermentation is completed in wooden barriques where wine matures on its own lees for four years without decanting. Until it is bottled no sulphur or any other conservation additive is used. Thus the wine has gone through all natural processes and becomes sound and stable naturally, ready to last one lifetime of ours. On completion wine is bottled are placed on their side for 6 months.

Tasting Note

Date	19 December 2014
Wine name	MODRI PINOT	Vintage	2007
Nation	Slovenia	Region	Brda
AOC-DOC	Brda	Grape Varieties	Pinot Noir
Serving temperature	16-18° C	Alcohol	13
Price (in euro)	40	SO2 (in mg/l)	35

Visual Examination		Taste analysis
Limpidity	Limpid	Body	Full
Color	Ruby Red	Balance	Balanced
Consistency	Quiet consistent	Soft sensations	Quite Soft
Effervescence	//	Hard sensations	Quiet Tasty
		Flavors intensity	Intense
Olfactory analysis		Flavors	Red fruits, Liquorice
Aroma intensity	Intense
Complexity	Complex	Finish/Persistence	Persistent
Quality	Fine	Overall evaluations
Aromas	Red fruits, liquorice	Development	Ready
		Harmony	Harmonious

Food pairing

Important white meats or light red meats, mid aged cheese, charcuterie. Fantastic even alone.

I opened this bottled full of curiosity and expectations. I have just finished Nossiter’s “Liquid Memories”, a book in which Pinot Noir and Burgundy are painted as the grape of God and e region of little microcosms of different perfections.

I have learnt that Pinot Noir is a grape hard to handle, capable of the best and the worst results; and to be able to treat it and extract THE juice … not everybody can do that. Movia’s Pinot Noir looked to me as a very good result with a soft bodied basket that carries a cornucopia of inebriant flavors.

Drinking this bottle of wine has given me real pleasure.

Buy it again? Yesssss.

Official website: www.movia.si