Ales Kristančič's family has been making wine in Brda for eight generations. The estate dates back to 1700 and passed into the family by marriage in 1820. They farm 22 hectares, about half on the Slovenian side of the border and half on the Italian side.
This is Pinot Grigio, but not the Pinot Grigio you're thinking of! Days of skin contact maceration make the whole difference from the the neutral, commercial, slightly boring stuff that made the grape famous for all the wrong reasons.
It smells like orange peel, tangerine, boiled peach, yellow plum. As it sits in the glass, it opens up and shows you more. A touch of vanilla, freshly-churn butter, liquorice, thyme, nutmeg. It keeps going and it's savoury and textured.
