Pucer z Vrha – Malvazija Pristna, 2018Photo: Mihaela Majerhold – Ostrovršnik
What a treat I’ve picked for today! We are at Slovenia’s western extremities, in the valley of Dragonja, where Valter Pucer and his son produce outstanding wines in both conventional and macerated styles. Such is the case with this Malvazija.
The Pucer family is relatively unknown to the outside world as you won’t find much about them online. Rare are the occasions when you’ll have a chance of meeting them at fairs, but ever since I follow them, they’ve been a constant in presenting high-quality wines. This modesty might surprise many, but this is who they are.
Clusters for this wine were handpicked at a 40-years old vineyard, which is planted on white soil, a mix of clay and flysch common to the Dragonja Valley. We’re at a couple of meters above sea level altitude and facing southwest exposures. They adopt low-intervention farming practices and don’t use herbicides in their vineyards.
Grapes are picked when fully ripped, and they follow a classical procedure focused on expressing primary, varietal aromas in the wine. After crushing and destemming they do a “gentle maceration” (short skin contact), the must is then transferred to ferment in stainless vinificators with the addition of selected yeast. Temperatures are controlled throughout this process and after almost a year (end of august) the wine is bottled without stabilization to wine tartrates.
This results in a Malvazija with brilliant, golden yellow colour.
Its aromas are intense, alluring and most of all, varietal. We perceive ripe acacia flowers, apricot, pineapple, papaya, yellow plum, kiwi, as well as almonds, honey and a note of hot stone.
The taste is soft, warm, but also refreshing with underlined mineral saltiness. The balance really is expressed in this wine. It is full-bodied with an intense taste of lasting persistency and noble character.
Now the “Pristna” in the title stands for pristine, and if you ask me, this is one of the most pristine expressions of Malvazija I’ve encountered so far! And this pristine character gets reconfirmed with each new vintage.
This is a must-try for every Malvazija lover out there, and having so little information out there surely doesn’t give it the much-deserved credit. My Slovene friends can order their wines directly by calling +386 41 651 517 or sending an e-mail to info@pucerzvrha.si, as they do frequent deliveries to Ljubljana. This Malvazija will keep in such harmonious shape for at least 2 more years, and a bottle will cost you only 7 Eur!
Photo: Mihaela Majerhold – Ostrovršnik