Leisure
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Robert Gorjak
Award-winning wines
The Secret of Success
06.11.2009
Slovenian wines made an exceptional impression at this year’s Decanter World Awards.Several year ago, Steven Spurrier and I were driving around Bordeaux. At a certain point, Steven started to explain that Decanter, where he has a role as consultant editor, would start a new wine competition. It seemed a daring move, as the world was already overcrowded with wine competitions and evaluations.
This year, Decanter proudly announced that the Decanter World Wine Awards has become the largest wine competition in the world, beating International Wine Challenge and reaching over 10,000 samples.
Why is DWWW enjoying such trust among winemakers around the globe? Steven Spurrie,r who now has a role of Chairman at the DWWA, devised three principles. First, wine is judged by region. The wines are grouped by regions and judges know exactly where the wines are coming from. Therefore, they can say if the wine is a good example of a particular region. Australian Shiraz is very different from Northern Rhone syrah, for example.
Second, wine is judged by regional experts. The panel consists of three judges who need to be well experienced in the region they judge and a regional chairman must be an authority on the subject. For example, Tom Stevenson is regional chairman for Champagne, Michael Schuster for Burgundy, James Lawther, MW (Master of Wine) for Bordeaux. A great many Masters of Wine accompanied by many other renowned tasters are to be found among the judges.
Third, wine is judged by price. Judges always know what price category the wine belongs to. We cannot expect same virtues from a EUR 4.99 wine as from one costing four times as much. This is actually the way customers are buying wine. If you go in the supermarket for a EUR 7.00 Riesling, you want to get the best one available. This is how wines are judged at Decanter.
One additional reason for success is that the results are very well communicated. Decanter, a leading consumer wine magazine, certainly has all means to do that. Every September, there is a massive issue published with all the results – a small bible.
Four golds
Slovenian wine makers have always responded well to DWWA, sending more and more samples. It is like a world championship, according to Primož Lavrenčič from Sutor Winery, with Marjan Simčič adding that everybody knows Decanter and its medal (something that cannot be said for some other competitions).
In 2009, Slovenia got its own panel for the first time. I was honoured to assume the role and responsibility of Regional Chairman for Slovenia. Darrel Joseph comes from Vienna, Igor Šotrič is a head sommelier at China Tang restaurant at the Dorchester Hotel of London, while Erich Krutzler is an Austrian winemaker at the Marof Winery in Prekmurje.
Slovenian winemakers embraced the idea of having their own panel, submitting a record-breaking 130 samples. The results? Four gold medals went to sweet wines. Jurij Brumec become a worthy trophy winning names such as Prus, with his award winning Rumeni muškat Ice wine 2005, PRA-VinO, who regularly produces some world’s top botrytis names and Leonardo 2004, Simčič made from dried Ribolla Gialla grapes.
All 22 silvers went to white wines. Among the dry ones, we should mention the Dveri-Pax winery, which sent nine wines, all of which were awarded. Rieslings 2008, Sauvignon 2008, Riesling “M” 2007 and Sauvignon “Vajgen” 2006 got silver.
Pullus sent five wines; all were awarded. They received silver for Pullus Sauvignon 2008, Pullus Sauvignon “G” 2008, and gold for a sweet Laški Rizling 2008. Sutor send three wines and won silver for Burja 2007 and Chardonnay 2007. Other silvers are Rebula 2008, Erzetič; Gredič 2001, Dolfo; Zelen 2008, Guerilla; Mulit 2006, Prinčič; Chardonnay 2006, Piro; Stara Brajda 2007, Šurek; A+ white, Vinska klet Goriška Brda. There were 44 bronze medals and 22 commendations. Silver at this competition can be regarded as gold at many other competitions, claims Spurrier.
Most of the awarded were available for tasting in the early September at a Salon of Decanter award winners in Hotel Mons, Ljubljana. Visitors enjoyed wines from Slovenia, Croatia, Italy, Austria and three excellent workshops performed by Italian Regional Chairman Richard Baudains, Austrian panel member Jason Turner and renowned Croatian wine writer Željko Suhadolnik.
As Tom Stevenson, top authority on Champagne and sparkling wine, said: “DWWA is the ultimate terroir competition.”
And Slovenia fared very well there, this year.
Robert Gorjak
Robert Gorjak grew up in a wine making family near Jeruzalem in Slovenia, becoming very familiar at an early age with wine and winemaking practices. His passion for wine started at the beginning of the 1980s, having had the opportunity to watch the professional judges tasting, observing their scores and comments.
His activities in the wine business include education, consulting, and wine writing. He holds a WSET Advanced Certificate and WSED Diploma issued in London, is the official wine taster of Republic of Slovenia and continues studying at the Institute of Masters of Wine.
Career highlights include the founding of Belvin, the first Slovenian wine school, where he has hosted many world wine masters in Slovenia. He has also judged at many wine competitions including Concours Mondial Bruxelles, Michelangelo International Wine Awards at Stellenbosch, South Africa., Decanter World Wine Awards and Mundus Vini in Germany. He has published more than 300 articles in various publications around the world. Among others, he is a correspondent for Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book, Meninger Wine Business International, Decanter and is the author of Wine Guide Slovenia 2008-2009.
Traminec
The king of wines from Kapela wine cellar is Traminec, which was awarded with numerous gold medals and got highest scores at annual cross-section evaluation. The quality of Kapela’s Traminec has a long history with the confirmed planting of Traminec vineyard in 1951, which is still cultivated by hard-working hands of company’s workers. In this vineyard, the grapes are harvested for the predicate wine, called Traminec izbor (Traminec selection), which has been always awarded with gold medals as well as double gold medals and this year also with the silver medal at Decanter Wine Fair in London.
Šumenjak’s medallists
Muscat Blanc 2008 (Yellow Muscat), Decanter bronze medal winner, has a straw yellow colour with gentle green nuances. The wine has a pleasant but discreet muscat aroma, which is very refined, with a typical nutmeg flavour. This wine sort is off-dry and is harmonious to its nose. The sugar covers up the acidity well, so that the taste of the wine is very soft and rounded. Pinot gris 2008, also bronze medal, has a more intense, straw yellow colour with light shades of gold. The tastes of tropical fruit, apple and vineyard peach are at the forefront. Its taste is fresh, mineral and long-lasting. Both wine sorts are fresh, light, youthful and suited to the tastes of the modern drinker.
The Goddess
Diona 06 is a sparkling wine, made according to the classical method of the secondary fermentation in bottles, as is done by the most prestigious wine makers with rich tradition in French province Champagne. Long-lasting foam with delicate texture proves its quality. Small bubbles rise to the surface, bind together and create a pleasing necklace of bubbles. The aroma and taste reveal charms of the classical method. Its elegance and nutty scent with notes of bread crust fascinate wine lovers and connoisseurs of high-quality sparkling wines. The refined taste of its powerful body and the attained perfection and harmony of wine components are the result of several years of maturing with yeast and a successful autolysis. Diona 06 is the pride of our wine cellar. Traminec SJI ‘08 is in the highest category of predicate wines, it is the result of careful nurturing of rich gifts of natural. The first encounter with its golden yellow colour with an orange shade lures into further discovering of this supreme predicate wine. A very soothing fruity aroma, hidden within overripeness, leaves a profound impression. Rich texture and concentration of fresh, pleasing acids gives the wine all that it takes to fulfil the requirements of this wine category. We take pride in producing such a jewel in our wine cellar.