CZECHIA
DVA DUBY
PETR KORÁB
JAROSLAV OSIČKA
PETRA BREDOVA
TŘI ČTVRTĚ
GEORGIA
AMIRAN VEPKHVADZE
CHITO'S GVINO
GOTSA FAMILY WINERY
JAKELI
GIA JAMBERIDZE
ORI MARANI
PAPARI VALLEY
GAIOZ SOPROMADZE
SLOVAKIA
PIVNICA ČAJKOV
DAVID KUŠICKÝ
MARVLA TINDO
UNITED CELLARS
OF TEKOV
SLOVENIA
KABAJ
KORENIKA & MOŠKON
ŠTEMBERGER
ZARO
COLLABORATIONS
BRDA BELO
CONSCIOUS EXIT
EAZY ORANŽNA
EAZY REFOŠK
GRAPE ALE
SHAVI K’RAVI
THE RIDERS
︎ ︎
PIVOL REFOŠK
DRY RED WINE
WINE MAKER: Matej Zaro
VINTAGE: 2019
LOCATION: Pivol
VINEYARD (HA): Santa Camela
ASPECT: terraced South East facing, varied exposures
ALTITUDE: 100-150m
YEAR(S) PLANTED: 2012, 1990
SOIL COMPOSITION: Flysch
PREVAILING CLIMATE & LOCAL CLIMACTIC: Warm Mediterranean
FARMING: Organic
GRAPE COMPOSITION: Refošk
HARVEST: Mid September
MACERATION: destemmed fruit, 23 days
FERMENTATION: Spontaneous, vertical oak tank
AGING: 1 year used Slovanian barrique
FINING & FILTRATION: none
BOTTLED: April, 2023
BOTTLES PRODUCED: 4,000
The majority of Zaro’s vineyards are located within the special Cru of Pivol. The micro appellation is centered in an amphitheater that overlooks the village of Izola and the Adriatic. The stony flysch soils combined with the windy, dry well exposed position are so conducive to organic cultivation that certifying the vineyards was more a matter of paperwork than adjusting farming practices. Zaro Pivol Refošk is the key stone of their production. It has the characteristic dark color and bright acidity of the variety but in a sunnier, more sumptuous form due to its prominent exposure. The vineyards are a half mile from the Adriatic and bear a salty, sapiness for it. There are few full bodied red wines so well suited to seafood. It is in fact what the wines shine most of all with. Especially strong seafood like mussels and mackerel. Refošk is quite reactive to the conditions under which it is grown and this translates into the wines. It can be fashioned as a light, tart and gupable quaff, as a powerful deep late harvest wines with astonishing structure and bracing acidity or anything in between. The exceptional location of Zaro’s vineyards on Pivol has been prized, at least as long as Venice has stood. Zaro Refošk smells of fresh mountain berries, camphor, pepper, violets, charcuterie and pulverized rocks. It is simultaneously structured and refreshing. The fermentation was spontaneous without temperature control in 2000l Slovenian oak. Maceration was 20ish days after which wine was racked back into the 2000l tonne and aged for 1 year. Bottled unfined and unfiltered. Serving Refošk with salt cured ham is almost automatic in Slovenia, but we will open it for iron forward meats like lamb, dry aged beef, venison or even tuna.