You know the thrill and anticipation when stumbling upon a wine you haven’t yet had the chance of tasting? Such is the case with this Black borgonja or Črna borgonja that you find in minimal quantities. To my knowledge, only the Mahnič family produces it, and we’ll have a closer look at it.

Black borgonja is a relatively unknown variety. Several theories are comparing it to some other varieties. Initially, they taught it was Blaufränkisch, but DNA analysis didn’t find any similarities, then they taught it was Gamay, but it proved differently. At Mahnič, they say that if White borgonja is Malvasia’s synonym, Black borgonja is Black Malvasia.

It is a variety that matures sooner than Refosco. It also has milder acids than the black king of Istria. At Mahnič, they cultivate currently approximately 0,5 hectare of this variety, and it is planted mostly on the edges of Malvasia vineyards. The eldest vine counts for 73 years, and it was used to propagate the vine over the following years while expanding the vineyard. The last vines were planted only a couple of years ago.

Grapes are hand-harvested and destemmed. The mash goes straight into the press with selected yeast. Freerun juice is taken away and used to produce a rose. This results in the final concentration of this wine’s colours. The left mash ferments for seven days in the press in an inert, temperature-controlled environment.

Finally, it is gently pressed, and the young wine is transferred with fine lees in stainless vats with batonnage. There it conducts malolactic fermentation and is then bottled after a year without filtration.

This results in a ruby red wine with a transparent, purple tip.

The bouquet is intense. We detect dried blackberries, chokeberry, cranberries, cherries, strawberry jam, red pepper, hay, dry tobacco and a hint of smoke.

This borgonja displays an intense taste. We detect softness with refreshing, crisp acidity. Velvety tannins are rounding up. Overall it feels elegant for a medium-bodied wine of medium persistency.

Only 700 bottles of this wine have been produced, and you can get it for 9 Eur by sending an e-mail to mahing@siol.net or by calling +386 41 642 851. This all if you’re lucky to score a bottle given the small quantities produced.