The bottles that define Brda: what they are, who makes them and what they cost.
The iconic bottles that define Brda: what they are, who makes them and what they cost.
Single vineyard Rebula from the Medana Jama plot on opoka marl, vines between 40 and 96 years old. Worth the detour for what Brda's own soil does to the grape.
Tasting notes: Quince, honeysuckle and candied lemon over crushed rock, then yellow plum, hazelnut and a saline close. Full bodied, high acidity, long.
Eight months on the skins, eight months in 1,000 litre ovals, bottled unfiltered on its lees in one litre bottles. Rebula pushed as far as skin contact takes it.
Tasting notes: Cooked apple, quince, apricot and dried meadow flowers, then candied citrus, hay, nutmeg and thyme. Amber, full bodied, light tannic grip.
Twelve months on the skins in Georgian qvevri buried in the floor, then two years in French barrique and five more in bottle before release. Brda's qvevri wine.
Tasting notes: Dried apricot, walnut, orange marmalade and hay, then quince, black tea and bitter orange over salt. Full bodied, firm tannin, high acidity.
Spontaneously fermented and left on the skins in cask for a full year, then another year in wood and bottled unfiltered. The natural end of the Rebula range here.
Tasting notes: Dried white fruit, apricot, chamomile, basil and spruce resin, then quince, dried herbs and orange peel. Deep gold, textural, high acidity.
Rebula-led traditional method sparkling, 60 percent Rebula with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, at least four years on the lees. Shows the grape in its third register.
Tasting notes: Golden Delicious apple, white peach, almond blossom and brioche, then sponge cake, citrus and minerals. Residual sugar 3.5 g per litre.
Biljana's long aged cuvee, 42 to 54 months on the lees with a third of the base wine raised in used French oak and no malolactic. Dosage 3 g per litre.
Tasting notes: Hazelnut, walnut, cocoa, butter, russet apple, hay and white pepper, then hazelnut, citrus and minerals over a creamy mousse.
Bottle fermented Chardonnay from the Vigna dell'Apicoltore plot, sold on its lees with the estate's own opening guide: you disgorge it yourself, under water.
Tasting notes: Ripe apple, mango, pineapple, bergamot and thyme, then bread crust, butter, vanilla and toast. Bone dry, full bodied, fine persistent bead.
Traditional method from 100 percent Beli Pinot in the Poje vineyard, 18 months or more on the lees at 5 g per litre dosage. A Champagne grape bottled on its own.
Tasting notes: Lemon, pineapple, apple, white peach, butter and yeast, then citrus, apple and a soft mineral edge. Medium bodied, high acidity, fine bubbles.
The Rebula in the cooperative's Bagueri Superior line, fermented on the skins in large oak then at least six months in barrique. What most visitors taste first.
Tasting notes: Honey, candied peel, chamomile, poached pear and toast, then lemon, Asian pear, pineapple and saline minerality. Full bodied, high acidity.
The Krasno line's skin contact wine, three white varieties macerated separately for a year in oak, amphora and steel, then blended. Cellar ageing potential five to ten years.
Tasting notes: Dried apricot, orange peel and hay, then quince, dried herbs and salt. Full bodied, medium tannin, richer and more structured than the cellar's other whites.
Rebula with Pikolit, Glera and Malvazija, cold macerated a day then twelve months in 300 and 500 litre casks. One of the two blends the Scurek family names as its own.
Tasting notes: Ripe orchard fruit, wood and dried flowers, then yellow apple, almond and saline minerality. Straw yellow going gold, full bodied, long.
Marko Skocaj bottles the Essential line bone dry, under two grams of residual sugar, with no attempt at added weight. Rebula with nothing to hide behind.
Tasting notes: Citrus, green apple and white flowers, then lemon, crushed stone and almond. Medium bodied, high acidity, taut.
Merlot, both Cabernets and Petit Verdot from fruit picked in the second half of October, then seven years in French barrique before bottling.
Tasting notes: Dried black fruit, leather, cedar and tobacco, then blackcurrant, graphite, cocoa and dried herbs. Full bodied, firm tannin, tertiary on release.
The red in Edi Simcic's Single Vineyard tier, Merlot from the Kozana plot alone. The bottle to open against the region's roast and braise cooking.
Tasting notes: Black cherry, plum and violet, then blackcurrant, cocoa and dried herbs. Full bodied, firm tannin, long.
A mature Cabernet Sauvignon selection from Neblo, bottled by the Kocijancic family only in years they judge outstanding. Not made every vintage.
Tasting notes: Blackcurrant, blueberry and cedar, then black fruit, graphite and dried herbs. Full bodied, firm tannin, high acidity.
Indigenous Rebula hand picked and dried for seven months before pressing. The domaine's only sweet wine, and the region's grape in its fourth register.
Tasting notes: Dried apricot, orange marmalade and acacia honey, then candied citrus peel, fig and walnut. Sweet, full bodied, with Rebula acidity holding the line.
Peak wine-travel season in Brda is spring through autumn, with harvest the standout window.
classified-growth and grand-cru estates require booking days to weeks ahead; smaller family domaines often take walk-ins midweek.
most estates open 10:00 to 17:00 by appointment, often closed Sunday and Monday.
tipping is not expected at tastings; buying a bottle from the cellar door is the customary thank-you.
If you only open one bottle, open Ribolla Opoka by Marjan Simčič. It is the wine most associated with Brda.