Alan Ujcic: ‘Welcome to Slovenia!’

Thirty-five people gathered for the most recent Friday night gathering at Sequoia Café as Alan Ujcic arranged a second tasting of wines from his homeland – Slovenia. The event followed up on a similar tasting at Sequoia last year. Ujcic seemed to enjoy the night, except for my continued singing of a revised version of the Albania song from Wag the Dog. ‘Slo-ve-ni-a, Slo-ve-ni-a, it borders on the A-dri-a-tic…’

In any case, two wines hailed from regions near Austria and five from the Italian side. Based on a sampling of people in the room, the favorites seemed to be.

• Radona Silver sparkling wine NV, with a green-yellow color, a touch of sweetness, and stone fruits on its nose and light body. (“I’d serve this with ham and melon,” said PA).
• Princic Merlot 2005, with some cherry and plum jamminess on the nose, and a soft body with some cherries, red fruit and a touch of funkiness. (“It’s got a bit of barnyard smell and I mean that in a good way,” said PA.)
• Cotar Cabernet Sauvignon 2000, with blackberry on the nose and body, as well as earthiness and soft tannins.

Several people also cited the Scurek Rose 2006 (with peach and strawberry flavours) as their favorite and the Quercus Pinot Noir 2003 garnered a few good comments. The reds tended to suffer from too much tannin and not enough fruit. The tasting cost RMB 100 per person, and included cheese, bread, assorted meats, sandwiches and brownies.

Starting with the whites…

About 35 tasters showed up

It really does border on the Adriatic!

Alan Ujcic: ‘You want more, don’t you?’

The Slovenian tasting: a wine map (click to enlarge)

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