Ales Kristancic uncorks Movia
These photos show Ales Kristancic uncorking his sparkling wine at a recent tasting in NYC. Ales runs his family’s estate, Movia, in the part of Friuli that crosses into Slovenia. The wines are all made through biodynamics, the process of “organic plus” winemaking that blends in a shot of moonlight. If you’re looking for unusually refreshing, exciting, vibrant wines, keep an eye out for the wines of Movia–start scouring since they are hard to find though not outrageously expensive, about $25 – 35 for most of them (but the strong Vila Marija line is around $12; search).
Ales bottles his sparkling wine unfiltered. So in the third picture above he is coaxing the final sediment toward the cork. In the second photo he is pointing it out. Then he plunged it into the water bucket cork down, eased the cork out, and the sediment followed. Anybody want a taste? (photo 1) I did.
The sparkler, a 1999 from magnum, is amazingly fresh and clean. There is none of that bready, yeasty note that is common to champagne and not unpleasant. This was just so fresh, fruit and bubbles and totally dry.
The ribolla gialla is a sort of flagship wine from the estate. Made from 80 year old vines, the 2004 that I tasted was beautifully balanced between fruit, acidity and minerality. It is aged on the lees (more sediment!), which give is depth and roundness. Apparently its age-worthiness is legendary, lasting 50 years or more. But it is drinking great now.
But I liked his 04 sauvignon (blanc) a tad more. I have been paying attention to serious sauvignon blanc recently and this one definitely qualifies. A great mouthfeel, poised between acidity and creaminess, this wine has fantastic weight and intensity. The 04 pinot grigio was also very good and favored crushed stone notes over crushed flowers.
The 2004 Vila Marija merlot at $12 is an absolute steal. Bland be banned! This merlot has the great characteristics of the variety that are not hidden under layers of oak. How refreshing.
Try a wine from Movia this fall. But with only 13,000 cases made at the estate, the only trouble is finding a bottle.
On October 31st, 2006 at 10:41 am ,Jack wrote:
I’m so glad you got to try his second sparkling wine project: I may have been one of the first consumers to try this Sparkling wine – a year ago in Chicago. It’s called Puro (and there’s also a Puro Rosé). Unlike most every other sparkling wine, this is a zero dosage one, meaning no industrial brandy was added as a sweetener. I also remember AleÅ¡ said this wine will age forever because it is bottled with its lees.
Their other top white, btw, is their Ribolla blend called Veliko Bianco (Big White). It’s a few dollars more expensive then their other whites and the one I see the most on restaurant wine lists (NYC’s Fatty Crab is where I last had it), as it’s very friendly to drink within an hour of opening; I’ve found most Movia wines need a lot of opening time.
Movia’s one of my absolute favorite wineries; AleÅ¡ KristanÄiÄ’s wines are so pure and evolve dramatically in the glass and over time.
On November 1st, 2006 at 4:50 pm ,Erwin Dink wrote:
I’ve been wanting to try some of these wines since I read about Ales Kristancic and Movia in Wine & Spirits this summer. Thanks for prompting me to get off my ass and order some. I didn’t even shop around too much – just looked at was available through wine-searcher.com and ordered a mixed case at what looked to be reasonable prices.
On November 1st, 2006 at 11:20 pm ,Dr. Vino wrote:
Thanks for the additional info Jack. Fwiw, Ales also had on display his stemware line that also included a special decanter just for his PURO! Sorry no photo.
Erwin, glad to have reminded you! Let us know your tasting notes!
On December 14th, 2006 at 5:24 pm ,Erwin Dink wrote:
I’ve now tasted the Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Ribolla. I’ve only had one bottle of each and I’m not ready to offer any tasting notes. I bought them online and paid too much but I like them all with the Ribolla being the most interesting. It’s got minimal fruit and lots of minerality. It reminds me of another eccentric wine that I like a lot: Edmunds St. John’s blonk! I bet Ribolla will age well. I bought six bottles so I’ll stick a few in the “aging” bin of my cellar (a cardboard box in the basement).
On December 15th, 2006 at 9:24 am ,Dr. Vino wrote:
Erwin,
Sorry you paid a lot! I served a cld, just opened bottle of the RG to a group recently and the response was mixed. I think that it has to breathe for a while. And not be served too cold. I hope you are able to taste it in a few years and offer your notes then!
Cheers,
On December 18th, 2006 at 5:48 am ,Dan wrote:
When Movia first came into the U.S. a few years ago I was invited to be a guest at a dinner sponsored by their importer (my one and only foray into Ducasse…). Although the primary purpose was to introduce the wines to be available, Ales brought along bottles of old vintages of the Merlot and the Ribolla going back to, if I remember right, 1971. It was amazing how vibrant and fresh tasting thirty year old Ribolla could be!
On February 10th, 2007 at 6:14 pm ,Stephen wrote:
Had the good fortune to meet Ales and enjoy several of his fine wines here in San Francisco at DelFina a few evenings ago. The Puro Rose which Ales disgorged in person at our table using the “upside down underwater method” was very special (dry, fruity, clean). The Veliko (96) was complex and grand, and the Veliko Bianco also fantastic. 3 Cheers to Movia & Ales!