Hitting its stride in its fifth year
The 2020 Pinot Noir with the white label is just now hitting its stride. It is fruity, earthy, delicately smoky, and slightly tannic, yet elegant and still fresh. It is a true exemplar of the variety, with plenty of years of potential ahead of it. A trio of Pinot Noirs, or modri pinot, as the Slovenians call them, was the highlight of a presentation by the Tilia Estate winery from the Vipava Valley, held at the Miva Bistro & Wine Bar in Zagreb. Owner Matjaž Lemut noted that modri pinot defies the usual expectations for red wine, and that the best examples cost three times as much as the priciest Bordeaux reds, wines that everyone understands.
He is increasingly devoting to Pinot Gris
He has about 17 Pinot Noir wines in his cellar alone. It is no surprise that he doesn't know the exact number, though he added that he is also increasingly focusing on Pinot Gris. Fittingly, however, this Zagreb story began with a sparkling wine. It is made without added sulfur, so that Tonja and I could have a wine to drink on a Friday night and still feel great on Saturday, Matjaž noted, mentioning his partner, the wonderful Tonja Blatnik, while discussing the Brut Nature Rosé 2022. It is produced using the traditional method from Chardonnay (60 percent) and Pinot Noir.
A sparkling wine dedicated to love
Using minimal pesticides and oenological additives, yet relying on a wealth of creative ideas, that is the approach Matjaž takes to crafting this sparkling wine, nicknamed EL (Emperor of Love). If we cannot be rich, we can be happy, he added. Tilia Estate produces around 80,000 bottles annually, with Pinot Gris making up the largest share. The 2024 Pinot Gris is not the flat, simple wine typical of the variety often sold as Pinot Grigio, but rather a serious white wine. That lovely evening, guests also enjoyed fine Sauvignon Blancs from the 2024 and 2023 vintages.
The 18th Pinot Noir will arrive soon
These are wines with a yellow label and a sun motif. Wine is created in the vineyard, and it just ages in the cellar, Matjaž explained the symbolism. He also presented Nostra wine, a fine white blend of chardonnay (50 percent), pinot gris (30 percent) and sauvignon with a black label. Tonja Blotnik also announced about the eighteenth pinot. It is a part of the art project Out of the Blue signed by Kurdish academic painter Azad Karim, famous Slovenian photographer Jaka Babnik and designer Žare Kerin, creative director of Future. The Out of the Blue label is the joint work of big names brought together by wine by Matjaž Lemut, and nature is also a collaborator, of course. Pinot Noir Out of the blue is an exclusive line with a thousand bottles.
Photos: Karlo Medvarić
