Kabaj and Movia: Slovenian Wine With Big Personality

Hello, hello, hello! Welcome back to Exotic Wine Travel. I'm your host, Matthew Horky. We are talking about... what's so funny? I don't know, sometimes I talk very funny. Okay, we're talking about Slovenian wines today. You know, we came back to Croatia during the summer. We spent three months here. We were planning to have our book, Cracking Croatian Wines, finished earlier. It took the entire summer, but we got it done. Thank goodness, thank you to you who supported us. If you purchased it, I'll put it in the description box. It was a lot of hard work, so thanks a lot. But when we finished it, we decided to take a week-long trip to Slovenia, Western Slovenia, the Gariska Borda, or the Borda region. So for those of you who don't know, it's on the border with Italy. Actually, these producers, some of them have vineyards in Italy. It's an extension of the more famous Colio region in Italy. There's actually more vineyard space in Borda than there is in Colio. One person actually said, is it the world's greatest two-country wine region? Because it's basically the same region, just divided by a border. Interesting history because in the past, obviously, Slovenia was part of Yugoslavia. They have a long history of winemaking, but they were kind of forced to sell their grapes. They were co-ops during the Yugoslavian time. They're one of these countries that have come out of communism or socialism, the Eastern Bloc, so to speak, and really have emerged as a high-quality, really good wine region. The wines we all tasted were phenomenal. It's become an epicenter for the minimal intervention, quote-unquote, natural wine movement. A lot of macerated wines being made there. That's why we love it. Right, Sheree? Love it. Okay, these are two producers we liked a lot. Big personalities, a little bit different because, well, let's first talk about Cabai. Cabai is headed up by, co-owned by a husband-wife duo, but the husband is from France, Jean-Michel, and Cabai is the wife's family name because before they were selling their vineyards to, sorry, selling your grapes to the co-op, but when they married, they decided to bottle their own wine. This is Cabai. This is the Belli Pino 2012. This is what all his entry-level macerated white wines come in. He makes one from Chardonnay, Sauvignon, Reboula, Tokai Friolano. He makes a blend. He basically only makes white and red. He makes no entry-level, no tiers of wines. I was really impressed with all his entry-level wine. Why are you smiling back there? Because I want to have this for dinner. Okay, we can open this for dinner. Macerate for a few days in the skins and then also age two years in barrel. He doesn't make any fresh wines. I think his wines are really, really, really nice, high value for money. I have to thank Jean-Michel out of all the producers in Slovenia. He spent the most time with us. We spent about four or five hours in the cellar. He opened everything, archived wines, his whole collection, including his Amphora, which he actually ferments, macerates in Georgian Quavery, like Grafner, and that wine was just a knockout for me. Hardcourt and heavy. His reds impressed me, too. Shireen, I think, liked his Cuvée Morel, a Bordeaux blend. I like the Merlot from 2012. This was aged for four years, I believe, in the barrel. I think the Cuvée Morel was even five years or something like that. Anything you want to add on Kabai, Shireen? I think the baseline of the wine is very consistent and very high. There's literally not a single average wine in his portfolio. Yeah, I think what impressed us most about Kabai, in Slovenia, all the producers were making excellent wines, but some of the entry-level wines maybe were, you know, they were good, but not up to the top of their top level. Kabai, because he has one-tier wines, the wine quality was all quite high across the board. I was really impressed. Next up is one of our favorite producers. We actually knew about this producer before we came to Slovenia. One of his wines is one of our favorites from 2017 thus far. This is Movia. This is the Lunar 8 from Movia, Chardonnay and Reboula. This is just, this is made like old-school winemaking. They just, Aleš Krištinčić is the owner, winemaker. He throws whole berries into the barrel. They start fermenting spontaneously, and then he bottles this after a while under a full moon. I think that's why they call it Lunar. This is heavy in sediment. Actually, he bottles now in a one-liter bottle because he recommends to decant, and then there's a bunch of sediment at the bottom. This is the 2013. We've had the 2008, which was mind-blowingly spectacular. Shereen, anything you want to add on Movia? He makes some awesome wines, a lot of red, a lot of aged wines. These wines can be quirky. Maybe some people don't like them. I really enjoy them. This one was also a knockout, and I'll explain to you why. This is the Pearl from Movia. This is 2010. Why is it upside down, you ask? This is a Method Traditional Sparkler Chardonnay and Rebula, but this is not disgorged. So, for those of you that don't know how champagne's made, sparkling wine made in Champagne Method, made traditionally, just like any other type of wine, but then a little bit of sugar and yeast is added to the bottle, so there's a second fermentation goes on the bottle, and then the bubbles start to form. The sediment comes down to the bottom. In the Champagne region, they freeze the neck. They open this. They take out all the sediment, and then they recap the bottle, but this has the sediment still in it, which is really cool. You have to keep it upside down. When you open it, you have to open it underwater. What's really cool about this is you can age this on the lees for as long as you want to. Shereen, what did you say that you wanted about this wine? I want to buy cases of this and put it in our cellars. Yes. It's going to be our houseport. Houseport, so you can see how the wine develops on the lees. I thought this was actually really nice. It's so funny with Movia. I'm a fan of the other wines. They're Velico Bello. It's called Great White, Velico Red, Great Red. He's on this beautiful, almost like castle in this town, Ceglo, I think the name is. Hold on. Let me see. Ceglo. Ceglo. A beautiful space. He's a big personality. He moves actually more like Italian. He uses his hands. Really expressive, energetic guy. It's so funny. When I was looking for photos for articles we're writing about these wines, I looked at Shereen's phone, and I said, why didn't you take many photos of Movia? I thought you liked them. She said, I was enjoying myself too much. I have to thank Aleš Krišinčić, the owner, because when we were there, they were getting ready for harvest. He was obviously busy, but he went back and forth from the cellar tasting room, spent some time with us. Thanks a lot, Movia. Excellent wines. We will always be seeking these wines out. Anything you want to add on these wines? Awesome. Awesome. If you are going to Slovenia for wine, really don't, make sure you don't miss Movia. Guys, if you like this video, please subscribe to our YouTube channel, Exotic Wine Travel. I will see you in the next episode.