The colour is medium ruby. On the nose very elusive. In the mouth very austere, with high acidity and dry. The aftertaste is kind of pleasant but short.
Wind, caverns and the Adriatic Sea define the Slovenian/Italian border region of the Kras, where this wine is made. The Kras, or “Carso” as it is called in nearby Italy, is a cross-border wine region characterised by iron rich “terra rossa”. The tiny amount of fertile soil is the result of various human and natural events.
Historically oak forests dominated the land until the Venetians deforested nearly everything to build ships and the city of Venice. The resulting erosion and the famously strong winds called the “burja” caused huge amounts of topsoil to simply blow away.
People learned how to build stonewalls called “griže” to protect against the wind and small manmade lakes to gather rain called “kali” to keep crops alive. It is one of the most severe and unique terroirs in the world.
This Teran based wine is made by Štoka winery under the denomination Izbrani Teran PTP. “Izbrani Teran PTP” is a further classification of Teran PTP. “Izbrani” could be compared to the Italian “Classico” designation.
Štoka winery is located north-east of Trieste, about 10 km from the Adriatic, in the village of Krajna Vas.
For this bottle I paid 9.90 EUR at Kǒzelj Wines in Lubiana during last year late October holidays with my son. In the US the same bottle sells for up to 32 USD.
Country: Slovenia
Region: Kras
Grapes: Teran
Type: Red
Vintage: 2022
Producer: Štoka
Price range: Economic (<15 US$)
Pascal’s Enjoyment Index: 3/5