Another gem of a winery from the rolling hills of Goriska Brda. Vinska Klet Ferdinand is the project of Matjaz Certric. This young man knew from childhood that he wanted to become a winemaker in the wine region where his grandfather also made wines. Trained as an agronomist, he first completed a master's degree in wine business. He graduated with a paper entitled: Optimum load of Rebula. Rebula is the iconic grape of Goriska Brda, and Matjaz wanted to make equally iconic wines from it. In the meantime, his wines are recognized as belonging to the best in the country.
The Vineyards
The vineyards of Matjaz are located at 150-300 meters above sea level. They are characterized by the interplay between the warm sea breezes of the Adriatic during the day and the cool winds that provide cooling from the Alps at night. The combination of this unique microclimate and the special marl soils, called Opoka, makes the hills of Goriska Brda a unique & particularly high-quality wine-growing area.
All vineyards here are maintained organically. You can see green vegetation between the vines all year round. The natural conditions mean that fungi occur less often than in other regions. If intervention is necessary, organic pesticides based on seaweed are used.
Winemaking
Like many other winemakers in this region, Matjaz embodies the principle of traditional methods combined with modern scientific knowledge. His own description of these principles is: wine is the unique result of the collaboration between nature and the creative efforts of the winemaker.
All work in the vineyards is done by hand, from maintenance to picking the grapes. The yields are very low, in order to obtain the highest possible quality grapes.
In the wine cellar, too, work is done with a light hand. Spontaneous fermentations are the norm.
For the classic wines, a few months are matured in stainless steel in order to always retain the typicity & fruitiness of the grape variety used. For the Epoca wines, long maturation in large oak barrels, sur lies, is chosen. With these wines, Matjaz wants to bring out the typical minerality and salinity of the region.