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I first came across Klet Brda Winery when I needed a wine for my restaurant Schumachers. I tried a bottle of their Ribolla Gialla and as I wasn’t familiar with this white variety I was surprised at how much I liked it. After a couple of visits to the winery I was really impressed with Ribolla Gialla and their other varieties so I decided to deepen our collaboration.

This is how my own brand of fine wines Schumacher Selection came to life. The line is very versatile as it offers fresh white wines, wines aged in oak barrels, but also a traditional sparkling wine and a sweet wine to nicely round off the line-up.

I wish you enjoy these wines as much as I do!

Viticulture has played a prominent role in Brda since the Middle Ages, although evidence shows it was practised as far back as in Roman times. The discovery of some Vitis vinifera grape seeds above the village of Golo Brdo, suggests that grapevines might have been present even before the Romans arrived.

More than two thousand years of viticulture in Brda demonstrate that this is an exceptional region for growing vines; onewhich has long been famous for the quality of its wines. These ideal conditions are given by the marl, a soil rich in minerals typical of this hilly landscape, the region’s climate and its proverbially hard-working people. Terraced vineyards on sunlit slopes allow for mature and well-structured, yet elegant wines, appreciated by both experts at international competitions and wine connoisseurs.

Great wines are the result of carefully selected vineyards, passion for tradition and a clear vision. This is achieved by cherry-picking the most suitably located and ideally aged vineyards (between 15 and 30 years). The vineyards are covered with grass, rich in minerals and organic matter and, above all, meticulously looked after with very low yields. With the help of family and friends, grapes are harvested at the optimum point of ripeness, put into crates and transported to the cellar within a few hours, which is a crucial step for the quality of the wine.

 

The grapes, grown in Brda’s best sites through the efforts of member families of Klet Brda, are then processed in the wine cellar using a combination of tried and trusted as well as innovative techniques. Excellent wines are the fruits of a mix of knowledge, talent and intuition found in Klet Brda’s team of oenologists and cellar men, headed by our chief oenologist Darinko Ribolica, who is responsible for the consistently superior quality of its wines. Mr. Ribolica is also one of the top wine experts in Slovenia, whose connection to viticulture runs deep in his family; his grandfather was one of the founders of the first cooperative in Goriška Brda in 1921, which is considered to be predecessor of Klet Brda. “I love being a winemaker because every year is different – every harvest is different, there are changes every year and there’s no recipe you can follow. You always have to adapt to the circumstances and be constantly prepared to learn and improve, whilst constantly keeping up with the latest trends in wine. All of this makes me love what I do”, he explained.

In the cellar, grapes are initially destemmed and crushed, then cooled and left to macerate. The next main steps include pressing, fermentation and ageing, with the latter taking place in wooden barrels and stainless-steel tanks. The length of time that the wine spends in wood needs to be precisely determined, based on the grape variety and the desired style of wine. It is the task of our oenologist to decide on the duration of ageing in wooden barrels for each and every wine and vintage. Only when the wine reaches perfect harmony is it bottled and left to settle for a few months before it is released onto the market.
Schumacher Wines are kept and aged in the exclusive de Baguer wine cellar and carefully looked after by Klet Brda’s oenologists and cellar men.

 

RS Office Michael-Schumacher-Strasse 5 50170 KERPEN, Germany