Sauvignon 2019 Rencel

Joško Renčel's Sauvignon is where an international grape variety and the Slovenian Karst meet and transform each other. In Dutovlje, on calcareous red soil at 310-320 meters, swept by the Bora wind, Sauvignon does not behave like that of the Loire or Friuli: the Karst minerality takes over the herbaceous varietal aromas, and the 24 months in used barriques build a depth that no white-vinified Sauvignon could have. The maceration is deliberately short — only 3 days on the skins, compared to 14 for Malvazija — precisely to preserve the aromatic bouquet of the grape without weighing it down with too much tannic structure. The result is a macerated white that maintains the recognizable characteristics of Sauvignon — flowers, ripe fruit, herbs — but reinterprets them through the filter of the Karst: pronounced minerality, warmth, a final liquorice sweetness that is a signature of the territory rather than the grape variety.