Sebastijan Stemberger: warm, generous, hospitable, calm and at one with his surroundings. And then we haven't even talked about his wines. Naturally made and terroir driven. Pure, powerful and above all completely headstrong. Moreover, the man brings a touch of Jura to Slovenia, his first winemaking experiences were on the domain of Ganevat. With my hand on my heart: we had never tasted anything like it.
Karst, home of the red earth
Sebastijan Stemberger's vineyards are located in two parts of the Karst (Kras in Slovenian) wine region. On the one hand, in the heart of the wine region, near the town of Sepulje. On the other hand, more on the outer edge of the wine region, around the historic town of Stanjel. There, from the Karst plateau, you look out over the Vipava valley.
As far as the soil is concerned, the Karst is a limestone plateau with a layer of terrarossa on top; soil with a high iron content. More towards the edge of the area it is about flysch & terrarossa. Despite the Mediterranean location, the climate is quite cool, which means that the harvest can be quite late without alcohol percentages getting out of hand. Finally, there are a number of grape varieties that are specific to and do particularly well in the region. In white: Vitovska, Malvasija & Zelen. In red: Teran (Refosk/Refosco) & Modra Frankinja (Blaufrankisch). In addition, very nice wines are also made from international varieties such as Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Winemaking
Sebastijan Stemberger is the exceptionally talented winemaker & vigneron of the estate; his wife Loredana runs the business side of the company. A natural, biodynamic approach is resolutely chosen. All wines are therefore certified organic.
Like all our winemakers, Sebastijan knows that great wine starts in the vineyards, with healthy, ripe grapes. The vineyards are therefore cultivated biodynamically; and everything is done with a gentle hand. Of course, the picking is also done manually. Macerations can take a particularly long time
Winemaking is also done with minimal intervention and the necessary patience. All wines are given time to develop. Even maturing is done in barrels that are a reflection of the environment: they are made of oak, acacia and limestone from the region.
Sebastijan's wines
In white, skin maceration is always used. From a week to almost a year for the top cuvées. Often also with particularly long barrel maturations, however without striving for a solid wood stamp. Think large barrels and multiple years of use. The white/orange wines are also notable for their special combination of power, maturity and fine freshness.
The red wines are made according to an equally slow process: skin macerations of a few weeks to two months, followed by barrel maturation of about two years. Stemberger wines are then also ready to drink on the market; but they also mature particularly beautifully.