Vinarija Škegro “Krš Orange” Žilavka 2018

Vinarija Škegro “Krš Orange” Žilavka 2018

The amber color belies the energy and brightness of this grape. There’s some DNA evidence to suggest it’s related to Glera, but we’ve also heard that it’s related to Furmint despite lacking hard evidence to back that up. To be fair, it is late ripening, has super compact bunches, and is prone to botrytis. It’s easy to see where the Furmint argument stems. It’s also not a skin contact wine where everything is just dangling together like a fragile mobile hanging over a baby’s crib. Žilavka is one of the few native whites that can weather the hot, dry and unforgiving Herzegovinian growing season without dropping acidity. Žilavka translates as both deep rooted and veiny (you can varicose like veins on the berries when ripe). And this 2018 is ripe. It wasn’t picked too early in order to manage sulfur additions or over macerated or hard pressed to gain extraction either. It’s actually quite soft in terms of tannins nor is it hot in any way (12.5%). Spontaneously fermented in open vats, it’s then on the skins for around 15-20 days, barreled down to 225L neutral oak for 6-8 months (no lees stirring), then bottled unfiltered with zero additions of any kind. This is a rare treat from the Balkans. Only 997 bottles were produced.