Istria, Slovenia
I tasted these wines for the first time in the summer of 2013. We had just decided to expand into the Adriatic; predominantly Slovenia and Croatia. I had actually already been to Slovenia in 2009 to visit Klinec who were dear friends, and hence was already completely bewitched by both the country and the wines. I tasted the wines of Uros Rojac and was again immediately transported. They were real, authentic and alive. Simple and yet also full of emotion… I had to have them. There was born a friendship and collaboration which has incredibly deep roots still today between Uros and his family and ours. We have been to his home many many times, as he has to ours. He never tries to be anything other than what he is and what his family has always been… and this is what I still find in every single glass. He has started to experiment a bit with Amphora, and has since made the Royaz refermented wine (our wedding bubble). However never has strayed far from his wine making roots and traditions. Wine that speaks clearly and precisely of a region that deserves way more attention that it gets (although that is changing thanks to importers like Blue Danube/Danche and Granger and IW back in it’s day).
The Rojac family has lived in Gažon ever since the seventeenth century. Growing vine and olive trees have always been the family’s main devotions. They have revived the ancient tradition of wine growing on the hills of the Slovenian Istria and their descendants, the young generations keep continuing the tradition.
The Rojac family believes in the wine-cultivating tradition shaped by their grandfathers and they believe in the findings of the modern enology. Hence they grow wines that are close to nature and let the nature work its own way, however supervising closely the growth and the shaping of wine's character. The wine is produced in the vineyard.
A winegrower must feel every vine and the vine must be like a child to him. Densely planted vineyards, vines with little prolongations, lots of sun and air give a small, but high quality harvest. This is what they want as only good plants can be turned into a high quality wine. From the moment they come into the cellar to the moment when they leave it, the grapes are exposed to minimal human interference. They let the must take its natural way for turning into the delight that is later poured into the glass. It seems like the winegrower squeezes a magic potion into the glass.
The natural conditions in the Slovenian Istria are favorable to viticulture. The climate is warm and the percentage of sunny days is the highest of all Slovenian wine growing regions. For that reason, it is possible to claim that Slovenian Istria is a “non mass production wine growing area”, where through controlled products and sensible growing techniques the Rojac Family is able to grow exceptional quality grapes of white, and above all red sorts of vintage wines.
In the wine cellar they do their utmost to concentrate on the wine and its needs. The emphasis is set on the structure and richness of the wine. They allow the wine to express in the bottle the characteristics of the soil and the area of its origin.
Due to macerations and autochthonous yeasts Rojac wines receives an authentic seal of recognition for Rojac Family’s work. The wine is not filtered and is therefore permitted a full development when bottled. These are the guidelines for creating the unconventional character of Rojac wines.
