Kristančič – Pinot noir Pavó, 2016

We’re moving back to the beautiful village of Medana, sitting on top of the Brda slopes, where the Kristančič family crafts a range of characterful wines. Today we’ll look at their selected Pinot noir, which matured for two years in new and used oak barrels.

The Pavó line represents their highest qualitative expressions and is the fruit of eldest vines, where only selected berries are used in the production. Hand-picking is carried out around the 10^th of October, grapes are destemmed, and berries crushed. The mash then macerates and ferments at temperatures not higher than 28 ° Celsius for ten days. Finally, the wine is pressed and racked to mature in new and used barriques of Slavonian and French origin for two years.

This results in a Pinot noir with transparent, ruby red colour and dense texture.

Intense aromas evoke ripe plum and black cherry, including cranberry, followed by aromas of violet, cocoa, red pepper, leather humus and forest undergrowth. We also identify a note of eucalyptus and cedar, finishing with a slight touch of smoke.

Its taste is dry, soft and reasonably warm. Its freshness is ripe, and we detect minerality and tannins that still give this youthful, slowly rounding off astringency. An intense wine, full-bodied with lasting, expressively elegant persistency in which flavours of black cherries, chocolate, leather and smoke reflect.

It will keep its shape for the next five to seven years, and a bottle will cost you between 20 and 25 Eur, and you can get it at Koželj, Vinoteka Sodček, TuamV and Le cantine di secondo.