Skerlj Tops Friuli Whites in Wine & Spirits
Just in time for today’s Top 100 Winery tasting in San Francisco — here are great reviews for the wines of our Carso partner, Azienda Agricola Skerlj.
Congratulations to winemaker Matej Skerlj for his strong 2014s and 2013s, and for his first-ever inclusion in Wine & Spirits Top 100 Winery list!
Reviews were published in the Wine & Spirits October 2017 issue.
Skerlj 2014 Venezia Giulia Malvasia — IN STOCK
Matej Skerlj owns six acres of vines in the limestone and terra rossa soils of Friuli’s Karst (or Carso) regionn, just a couple of miles from the Slovenian border. He makes two white wines — this Malvasia, and a Vitovska (also recommended here)–vinified in old oak barrels without temperature control; for both wines, he leaves the skins in contact with the juice for three weeks. His 2014 Malvasia feels sunny and brisk, its flavors of white cherry and golden peach brimming with cool salinity and lemony acidity. It picks up notes of fennell and cumin with air, finishing with a salty tang that leaves your mouth vibrating long after the wine is gone.
Skerlj 2013 Venezia Giulia Malvasia
Skerlj’s 2013 Malvasia feels rounder and fleshier than his 2014 (also recommended here). It opens with scents of orange blossoms that lead to flavors of Ranier cherry and juicy peach, propelled by salinity and framed by a lightly grippy apple-skin texture. Notes of brown spice emerge on the finish, adding depth and richness.
Skerlj 2014 Venezia Giulia Vitovska — IN STOCK
The cool and rainy 2014 vintage endowed Matej Skerlj’s Vitovska grapes with high acidity and thin skins, prompting him to macerate the juicec on the skins for five months, rather than the usual three weeks, in order to build the wine’s structure. His patience paid off in this floral, textured wine. It seems to combine the Carso’s mountain and maritime influences in its scents of green herbs, alpine tree bark and salty sea breezes; the flavors follow suit, the juicy peach, white fig and golden apple-skin notes brimming with fresh acidty and cool salinity. It’s a natural match for scallops, or most any shellfish.
Skerlj 2013 Venezia Giulia Vitovska
This feels denser and darker in tone than Skerlj’s exuberant 2014 (also recommended here), reflecting the warmer vintage. Flavors of dried apricot and pear mingle with notes of honeycomb and green tea, and a firm mineral texture tht brings to mind crunchy sea salt. Petrol notes add to the weighty texture, but they fade as flavors of yellow peach and white cherry take over. Decanting will bring out the bright fruit.
