Vino Kupljen – Sirius, 2018

We’re returning to the sunny slopes of Jeruzalemsko – Svetinjske hills today, to one of the producers we’ve presented already here. If you’re following us you might have guessed we’re at Vino Kupljen and today we’ll have a look at a special wine named Sirius.

This wine is coming from the line Stars of Styria, born on a September night in 1995. Sirius, the brightest star in the sky was shining over the vineyard of Mihalovci. This was actually when the wine Sirius was born. In time others followed, combining a real constellation of stars. Justified? I say yes, but you’ll have to try for yourself.

Now for someone who adores Burgundy (remember Passion), this wine is its white expression. Yes, you guessed correctly – Chardonnay! There’s like a love affair between Samo and this region. He’s fascinated by their approach to plot identification, and this is what he strives for with his approach toward wine. Beside this Mihalovci are facing southeast, kind of like some of his favourites from Côte-d’Or.

Sirius is produced only in the best years. Grapes are handpicked with extensive care of selecting only the healthiest berries. Grapes are destemmed, crushed and left to macerate for few hours at controlled temperatures, where it undergoes alcoholic fermentation. The wine is then transferred to mature in French oak barrique barrels for 18 months, while constantly racking its lees.

The result is a wine of brilliant, strawy-yellow colour with a golden border with a dense texture.

Its aromas are refined, sumptuously rich. We detect hints of yellow apple, peach, cantaloupe, lemon rind, yellow rose petals, roasted almonds and walnuts, chestnut purée, finishing with notes of butter and vanilla evoking luscious fruit tart memories.

The taste is intense, soft. Its alcohol is well integrated into the structure… At the same time, it pleasantly refreshes our palate, bringing forward creamy hints of toffee. The finish is slightly bitter, due to minerals, but pleasant.

This is a full-bodied wine, with an intense and of a long-lasting persistency of accentuated elegance. This wine brings me actually to Burgundy’s south with its aromatic spectre and softness, but surprises with its freshness which to some might recall the one we find in Chablis.

It definitely is a wine that genuinely justifies the name of the brightest star in the sky – Sirius.