Posestvo Bela Gora 'Franc Kačičnik' Sauvignon Blanc
Classification: Dry white wine
Varietals: 100% Sauvignon
Appellation: Lower Styria (Štajerska)
Density & Yield: 8,000 Vines/ha; 1.5 kg/vine
Vine Training: Double-guyot, average vine age is 35 years
Annual Production: 1,500 bottles
Alcohol: 12%
Climate: Continental cool climate, with snowy and cold winters, and sunny and mild spring, with sun-drenching summers.
Terrain: The terrain of the entire Štajerska region is made up of steep-sloped vineyards and narrow, wind-rich hill valleys. A diverse geological soil composition, consisting mainly of sand and clay with marl in the lower layers. The vineyards is located on steep 30-45˚ slope with southern-exposure, 350 meters above sea level.
Farming: No irrigation. Environmentally friendly cultivation, following the integrated farming guidelines of Slovenia.
Vinification: Manual harvest of totally clean, healthy grapes, de-stemmed, barrel fermented with no added yeasts, and then matured for one year in used and new oak on lees. Bottled with little sulphur addition without filtration.
Tasting Notes: The Sauvignon Blanc shows a clear white gold with yellowish reflections. On the nose, the aromatics are seductive with a varietal fruit of fresh gooseberries and a smoky, spicy note. On the palate, the wine again shows deep fruity impressions of exotic fruits and beaming acidity. This Sauvignon Blanc is highly drinkable while offering a beautiful structure and depth, presenting one of the most impressive expressions of Sauvignon Blanc in all of Styria.
About
Posestvo Bela gora (White hill estate) is a small family-owned vineyard and winery that is producing vibrant and authentic wines from Štajerska grape varieties. Vinum was introduced to this small estate through Radojko Pelengic, former winemaker of Sanctum and former assistant winemaker at Heaps Good Wine Co. He and his wife Martin have small family winery, down the road, in the picturesque village of Dramlje. Now fully dedicated to their family estate, Rado and Martina produce a teeny amount of wine out of their small family winery, but the wines scream with expression, typicity and love.
Their small 1-hectare vineyard is planted on the hill, Bela gora, near the town of Dramlje in the region of Štajerska, northeastern Slovenia. The name of the settlement, which is also the name of the winery's white cuvee (Stilj), was changed from Šent Ilj (literally, 'Saint Giles') to Dramlje in 1955. Our cellar was built in 1951 a year after our vineyard was planted by our grandfather Franc Kačičnik, whose name is on the wine bottles today. Franc Kačičnik was a local constable and a prominent figure in the village. His portraits adorn the walls of the small cottage and estate and led to the inspiration behind the labels.
Martina and Radojko are the third generation of winemakers that took over the winery from Martina's parents. The vineyard is nowadays farmed practicing organic and, respecting the terroir, they produce natural wines with low intervention in the cellar. All fermentations are done with native yeasts, with only small amounts of sulfur additions done at bottling. Most of the work in the vineyard is done by hand as the vineyard was planted long ago with narrow spacing between the rows. The vineyard is planted with a lot of different varieties, among them Muscat, Sauvignon, and Blaufrankisch. The oldest plants are more than 70 years old as the vineyard was never replanted, which is extremely rare in Slovenia. Year by year was only replaced for the missing plants. Now, many of their neighbors in the village see the great things they are doing and are sharing their small parcels with the winery to continue to shine a light on the beauty that these cool climate hills and vineyards produce.