We’re back in Brda tonight, visiting a winemaker, which I haven’t yet presented, but well deserves the attention. Valter Sirk, a winemaker whose wines are marked by his charisma, always delivers both finesse, expression, and elegance. Such is the case with this Merlot, coming from his high-end line ConteA.

At the time of harvest, vineyards counted between fifteen and twenty years. They lay south to south-east facing, terraced slopes at an altitude between 250 and 300 meters above sea level. Here, only organic fertilisers, algae, sulphur and copper solutions are used. Valter also uses selected clones and the counselling of Carlo Petrussi, a legendary viticulturist from Rauscedo.

Only selected bunches of hand-harvested Merlot were used for the production of ConteA. After destemming and crushing, the pomace macerated in open vats, without temperature control for ten days. Spontaneous fermentation kicked in, and cap management was executed three times daily during this time. After gentle pressing, the young wine was transferred into concrete tanks, where it matured for a year. Here, it conducted also malolactic fermentation.

After a year, it was racked into medium toasted barriques of different provenance, with 10 % new ones. There it waited patiently for close to three years. The total time of its vinification was ultimately four years. It was bottled with gross filtration and ready to come to the market.

This Merlot ConteA shows a ruby red colour with a slight garnet edge and a dense texture.

Aromas are intense, unfolding black cherry, prune, blackberry, even black olive, anise star, cinnamon, cocoa, tobacco, wild mint, forest undergrowth, leather and tip of a pencil.

The mouthfeel is soft, reasonably warm. It has vibrant freshness and minerality, with rounding, silky tannins.

The taste is intense, with a vigorous body evolving in a persistent display of flavours, and above all, it feels balanced.

A wine that shows the journey he walked but intends to stay on his path for a long time. An elegant long-runner that nicely highlights the character, elegance and resilience of the variety, just like Valter is.

A bottle will cost you between 30 and 50 Eur, and you can get it at Deliz and Italvinus.