Pinot Gris has pink-grey skins, which is why it takes so well to maceration — leave the juice on those skins and the wine picks up colour, tannin and a completely different register of aromatics. In Slovenia the grape is Sivi Pinot, and in Brda it produces some of the most convincing skin-contact wine anywhere.

This is Kabaj's version: extended skin contact, then the house minimum of a year in French barrel or buried qvevri, then bottle age before it is released. The colour arrives at golden amber. The nose runs to dried apricot, orange zest and chamomile; the palate carries candied citrus and spiced pear over tannin that is present and well knitted in rather than grippy.

The Kabaj-Morel family farm in Goriška Brda, the Slovenian half of a wine region that becomes Collio the moment you cross into Italy. Their neighbours a short drive away include Gravner and Radikon, and the clay-vessel tradition here is a living local practice rather than an imported novelty.

Drink it with: roast pork, mushroom and truffle dishes, washed-rind cheese, duck, or spiced vegetarian cooking. Decant an hour ahead.

Details

• Producer: Kabaj
• Region: Goriška Brda, Primorska, Slovenia
• Grapes: Pinot Gris (Sivi Pinot)
• Vintage: 2020
• Bottle size: 750ml