Page 127 - Terčelj, Dušan. 2015. The Culture of Wine in Slovenia. Edited by Aleš Gačnik. University of Primorska Press, Koper.
P. 127
Recognising a wine
Archive wines
High quality wine may have to mature for three years or more before it reaches top quality.
A winemaker may decide not to sell it immediately, but to keep ‘training’ it to become an
archive wine and sell it then. He will oversee the maturation process and when wine reaches
the highest quality after three, five or even ten years, he may decide to sell most of it and
keep a small quantity for even longer. Such wine is no longer labelled as high quality wine
but is sold as a particular vintage with an age of 30, 50 or 70 years or more. Our law states
that such wines can be called “archive” wines, while in the Mediterranean countries they
are labelled as “reserve” or “grand reserve”.
Sparkling wine
Sparkling wine, be it table or high quality, is a wine which foams up when the bottle
is opened due to the release of carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide appears exclusively as a
consequence of the secondary fermentation of the sugar in wine. If sugar ferments in the
bottle, we talk about the classical, traditional or Champagne method. Wine fermented in
closed tanks and then bottled is labelled as wine produced with the Charmat method. The
carbon dioxide pressure in the bottle is between 3.5 and 6 bars at 20˚C.
Sparkling wine that is produced with secondary fermentation, but in which the CO2 pressure
is below 3 bars at 20˚C is called Biser (Pearl).
Carbonated wine is wine to which CO2 has been added from a tank and where the pressure
is above 3.5 bars.
The serving of sparkling wines
at the 4th Salon of Prlekija
Winemakers Jeruzalem 2006 in
Svetinje. Photo: Staša Cafuta.
Talking about wines and sparkling wines in the Radgona wine cellar,
1997. The Terčelj family archive.
123
Archive wines
High quality wine may have to mature for three years or more before it reaches top quality.
A winemaker may decide not to sell it immediately, but to keep ‘training’ it to become an
archive wine and sell it then. He will oversee the maturation process and when wine reaches
the highest quality after three, five or even ten years, he may decide to sell most of it and
keep a small quantity for even longer. Such wine is no longer labelled as high quality wine
but is sold as a particular vintage with an age of 30, 50 or 70 years or more. Our law states
that such wines can be called “archive” wines, while in the Mediterranean countries they
are labelled as “reserve” or “grand reserve”.
Sparkling wine
Sparkling wine, be it table or high quality, is a wine which foams up when the bottle
is opened due to the release of carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide appears exclusively as a
consequence of the secondary fermentation of the sugar in wine. If sugar ferments in the
bottle, we talk about the classical, traditional or Champagne method. Wine fermented in
closed tanks and then bottled is labelled as wine produced with the Charmat method. The
carbon dioxide pressure in the bottle is between 3.5 and 6 bars at 20˚C.
Sparkling wine that is produced with secondary fermentation, but in which the CO2 pressure
is below 3 bars at 20˚C is called Biser (Pearl).
Carbonated wine is wine to which CO2 has been added from a tank and where the pressure
is above 3.5 bars.
The serving of sparkling wines
at the 4th Salon of Prlekija
Winemakers Jeruzalem 2006 in
Svetinje. Photo: Staša Cafuta.
Talking about wines and sparkling wines in the Radgona wine cellar,
1997. The Terčelj family archive.
123
