Zelen

Region: Vipava
Grape: Zelen
Vineyard Size: 1.80 hectares
Soil: marl, sandstone
Average Age of Vines: 8 years
Farming: biodynamic
Harvest: by hand
Winemaking: 7 day maceration, spontaneous fermentation in concrete with indigenous yeasts, malolactic fermentation
Aging: in concrete
Fining: none
Filtration: none
Added S02: 2 mg/L

Primož Lavrenčič

Burja Estate was born in 2009 when some old vineyards were given to Primož Lavrenčič as a family inheritance. The idea of the new estate was to connect a traditional Vipava wine-growing culture with a modern understanding of wine.

Vipava is having one of the oldest documented traditions of extended skin maceration – local priest Matija Vertovec wrote Vinoreja za Slovence (Winemaking for Slovenians) in 1844, talks about “the old Vipava method” of using a week’s skin contact for white grapes.

The farm is over 9 hectares of densely planted vineyards now, with almost all the vineyards exposed to the east. Only the local grape varieties are grown: Rebula, Malvazija, Laški Rizling, Zelen, Refošk, Pokalca, Frankinja. In addition, they grow 1.20 ha of Pinot Noir.

The wine cellar is deep underground and the wine barrels are full, so in that way, the temperature and oxidation are controlled. All wines are spontaneously fermented with no additives or unnecessary interventions made during the process – only with a small addition of sulfites added before the bottling (20 – 30 mg/l).

All of the work in the vineyards is done biodynamically.

The main goal of the winery is to enhance the terroir, especially the soil. All of the soil in the vineyards is developed on flysch, however, it differs slightly according to lithologic varieties of the bedrock below the soil. Luckily, this adds diversity to the wines.

- Zev Rovine Selections