Trebez is a triumphant triumvirate of Sauvignon, Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay if not quark, strangeness and charm. All vinified separately and then blended. This orange-rosé (the result of extended skin maceration) wine is bone-dry with a hint of dried grape-skin and suggestion of butterscotch. It’s very understated, a wine that you have to meet more than halfway. 20 Months in Old Oak. Try with braised veal shank.
DARIO PRINCIC, OSLAVIA, COLLIO Biodynamic, Natural
Azienda Agricola Dario Prinčič is located in the village of Oslavia, just north of the town of Gorizia, and a few steps from the border with Slovenia. Ten hectares densely planted form the property, with almost all the vineyards with a Southeast exposure. The land is very steep, the soil is clay and sandstone, and everything is done by hand.
After harvest, once the grapes are in the cellar, they are de-stemmed and placed in open wooden vats for the maceration with no temperature control, no added yeasts and no use of sulfur. Dario employs different periods of maceration depending on the variety of the grape. After pressing, the must goes to wooden barrels and barriques. Before bottling, the wine stays 6 months in stainless steel tanks for natural fining. During bottling a small addition of sulfur (15–20 mg/l) is done. The wines are bottled unfiltered and often show a brilliant orange colour in the glass.
Princic’s wines have the same feel as those of La Stoppa and Valentini: totally unfiltered and minimally sulphured, they taste of the earth, of rock salts and bitter stony fruits, in other words edgily natural. This may not be everyone’s cup of tea (or Sauvignon) but thank goodness in an era of branding and conformity that we can dance on the wilder shores of winemaking.