Make sure to try this wine
Vino Kupljen, Passion, 2017
4,5 NJP of 5,0 NJP
Vino Kupljen, Passion, 2017 (29 EUR when purchasing in the winery) red dry wine, Mihailovici, Jeruzalem, Stajerska, Slovenia, 4,5 NJP of 5,0 NJP (95 points of 100 points) (07-10-2021 by Nenad Jelisic)
Wow what a wine! It is, as the name suggests, definitely done with passion. Passion 2017 is the best Pinot Noir-wine that NJ Wines has tasted so far this year. It is complex, flavourful, big and has a really good tannin structure. In the aroma one can find violets, cardamom, vanilla, ripe plums, ripe dark cherries and ripe strawberries. In the flavour one can find dark cherries, black pepper, cocoa-rich dark chocolate, strawberries, plums and sweet spices. The aftertaste is very long and has wonderful tones of cocoa and black pepper. The wine's brilliant tannin structure in combination with the wine's concentration, fruitiness and acidity bodes well for the wine's development potential, at least 10 years, i.e. until at least 2031. The little that the wine lacks to get 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP (100 points of 100 points) is a little higher concentration and a little better fruitiness.
Vino Kupljen Passion 2017 is created to be drunk with food such as slow-cooked pheasant stew with root vegetables and a little madeira or with butter-fried duck breast with root celery puree and sauce made from crème fresh and what has remained in the frying pan after frying or with perfectly grilled lamb chops, not overcooked i.e. a little bloody, with potato gratin and red wine sauce. It should be served at 16°C in Burgundy glasses, if possible, from Spiegelau Salute Burgundy, Orrefors Difference Mature or Riedel Vitis Pinot Noir. Another option is to serve it at 14°C (when room temperature is above 23°C or outdoor temperature is above 25°C) and then enjoy it when it starts to open/grow in the glass.
The grapes for the wine come from the Mihailovici vineyard. The vines are 27 years old. The soil on which the grapes grow consists of marl (clayey soil that contains a lot of lime) and sandstone. The grapes for the wine are harvested by hand. After very careful selection in both vineyard and winery and careful destemming, the grape mass, which consists of grapes and grape juice, is fermented/macerated in stainless steel tanks. The fermentation/maceration is carried out as follows: 1. cold maceration at a temperature between 10 and 12°C for 7 days, 2. natural fermentation at a controlled temperature not higher than 25°C for between 14 and 21 days and 3. cold maceration at a controlled temperature of 10°C for 28 days. Then, the grape mass is gently pressed, and the wine is moved to French 225 litres oak barrels (barrique), 30 to 35% new, where it undergoes malolactic fermentation and is aged for between 24 and 36 months. Finally, the wine is bottled and then it is aged between 1 and 2 months before it is released on the market. The wine is not filtered.
