It is a wild wine: hints of pepper, sour cherry, and blueberry, soft yet fresh. It gently warms the palate and leaves a lingering glow. Only the brownish rim in the glass reveals its nine years of age. Its aroma and flavor evoke youth and joy. I don't want to, I can't, and I won't promise there will ever be another like it. Buy it now if you like it, said Bruno during a tasting at his winery in Šišan, near Pula, speaking of the wine that force people coming back for more.
Two decades have passed since Bruno planted his first hectare of vineyard. Back in 2005, he even won a silver medal in Vodnjan with a Cabernet Sauvignon made from purchased grapes. Three years earlier, he had helped harvest three rows of his grandfather’s vineyard for the first time, and in 2004, as a student of winemaking in Poreč, he produced his first wine. His journey was a hilly one, taking him from an urban, hyperactive winemaker who would block the neighborhood with trailers while hauling grapes to his garage in Pula, to a seemingly calm biodynamic winemaker.
He began using exclusively natural preparations in 2019, and his youngest red wines currently on the market come from that vintage. A Teran aged in wood for five years can rival Barolo, says Bruno, quoting advice given to him by the great Moreno Coronica. Limiting production to a single cluster per vine is another rule he follows in his quest to create the ultimate red wine. This quality is evident in the glass: wines opened on a Saturday, such as the 2019 Terra Mare Teran, remain in excellent condition by Monday, even when simply left sitting on a sideboard. Yet, these wines are not for everyone. Nor are they for just any occasion.
Luka Luna 2018 is a Merlot aged for two years in wood and named after the winemaker's twin daughters. It has aromas reminiscent of blood and iron submerged in it. Irena's Cab 2019 is a Cabernet Sauvignon that Bruno dedicated to his wife. While the Merlot is wild and firm, the Cab is remarkably soft, a reversal of the typical characteristics associated with these grape varieties. Moia 2017 is an exceptional pure Syrah. It is a magnificent wine hailing from a vineyard situated on the same latitude as those in the renowned French region of Cornas in the Northern Rhône, and the wine reflects that lineage. The soil is 70 percent stone, a quality that is evident both in the glass and in the price: a bottle costs around 125 euros.
Among the white wines, the 2021 Uroboros Malvazija is particularly impressive. That year, the vineyard was left to rest and was not sprayed. The wine spent two months in contact with the skins and aged for nearly two years in a used acacia barrel. It goes to show, once again, that Malvazija and acacia are a perfect match. Notes of stone are evident in the aroma and flavor of this wine, which does not yet have a label, while the profile also evokes salt and the sea. The 2021 Uroboros is currently unlabeled. The yield was one kilogram of grapes per vine for this vintage, produced during the pandemic. They didn't even put it up for sale. We didn't have to; we can survive, said Bruno, adding: The 2020 Uroboros Malvazija is the wine that repaid us for everything we’ve invested over the years!
There was plenty of wine in the glasses that afternoon, and plenty of lovely words shared over them. May there also be an abundance of health and joy, and many more gatherings like this one. Cheers to you, Irena and Bruno!