The wine was given a score of 95 points. Enologist Uroš Bolčina became the first Slovenian to take out this award. The winning wine is basically a “Teran”, but Teran is a protected Slovenian product. Since the Veralda winery is based in Croatia, the winning wine cannot be marketed under that name.

Bolčina is part of a younger generation of enologists. He has left his mark on many famous wineries in countries like Australia, Portugal, Chile, and Hungary. He says he is not interested in politics – his sole objective is to produce the best wine possible. “It feels like a bunch of little boys playing in the sandbox. Every now and then, a fight breaks out and then adults have to intervene,” the former chief enologist of the Vipava 1894 winery said.

A red wine that defies stereotypes
“Istrian” is produced by the Veralda winery from Brtonigla. It beat out top wines at the Decanter World Wine Awards, and it also won a Platinum Award for wines priced over 15 GBP. Most impressively, the 2015 wine comes from a vineyard planted only five years ago – and it has matured for only 6 months. Veralda and Bolčina have shattered a number of stereotypes.

“I think I have a very good feel for grapes. I’ve experimented with many different types of grapes throughout my career, and I’ve learned how to manage in different situations,” Bolčina said. He also revealed his winning formula: “Spontaneous fermentation (25 days) without controlling the fermentation temperature, choosing the right time to pick the grapes, four months in barrique, no filtration. Still, the wine needs to be controlled. It’s the same as with humans. We don’t grow up by ourselves, we’re raised by our parents.”

Kaja Sajovic; translated by D. V.