Pullus wines from Ptujska Klet wine cellar
Ptujska Klet launched the Pullus wine range in 2007 with the slogan “wine with flavour”

2007 Pullus Sivi Pinot, Ptujska Klet, Štajerska, Slovenia, 13%
Sivi Pinot is pinot gris.  The nose has very fresh, bright pinot gris fruit with some pears.  Initially it’s nice and crisp, but there’s a depth there too.  But overall, it feels just a bit extracted.  85/100

2007 Pullus Sauvignon, Ptujska Klet, Štajerska, Slovenia, 13%
A crisp, gentle, grassy nose with some green herbs.  Crisp green palate.  Very fresh.  Perhaps a bit lacking in varietal character?  84/100

2007 Pullus Rumeni Muscat, Ptujska Klet, Štajerska, Slovenia, 11%
Rumeni Muscat is also known as yellow Muscat.  It has a fresh and delicate Muscat nose.  Nice palate – mmm, this is quite interesting.  There’s a nice depth to the Muscat fruit and a nice scented feeling rolling around the mouth, but never feeling overdone.  Very well handled.  89/100

2005 Pullus Cuvée, Ptujska Klet, Štajerska, Slovenia, 13%
This is a blend of chardonnay, traminer and sauvignon blanc.  The nose is rich and full; quite rounded and creamy.  A bit unbalanced on the palate.  84/100

2007 Pinky Chick Rosé, Ptujska Klet, Štajerska, Slovenia, 11.5%
Semi-sweet.  It’s a very pale, Barbie pink.  There’s little on the nose – possibly just a hint of some strawberry fruit.  It has a bit of sweetness on the palate, but not too much.  It’s actually quite an accomplished, enjoyable rosé.  87/100

2006 Pullus Sivi Pinot Barrel fermented, Ptujska Klet, Štajerska, Slovenia, 11.5%
A rich smoky nose with pear fruit.  Quite deep and complex on the palate.  The oak has worked well here.  88/100

2007 Rumeni Muscat Sweet, Ptujska Klet, Štajerska, Slovenia, 10%
A gentle Muscat nose with some lemon minerality.  There’s nice balance on the palate.  Not at all oversweet.  It has a good elegance too.  86/100

2006 Renski Rizling Sweet, Ptujska Klet, Štajerska, Slovenia, 11.5%
This isn’t a fully sweet wine, but rather a blend of normal (Rhine) riesling and late harvest grapes.  There’s a feel of delicate honey and creaminess on the nose.  It’s much richer on the palate than on the nose.  It has an Auslese sort of feel to it and could easily pass for a sweeter German Auslese.  89/100

2005 Pullus Modra Frankina, Ptujska Klet, Štajerska, Slovenia, 11.5%
Modra Frankina is Blaufränkisch.  The nose has cut timber, roast venison and vanilla.  On the palate, the flavours are a little odd.  It’s a bit weedy with cherry fruit.  Significant tannins dominate the finish.  82/100

Vinska Klet Goriška Brda
The Goriška Brda Winery is a cooperative of 650 members, dating back to 1922, when 230 hectares of land were acquired from the Countess Elvira de Baguer, daughter and heiress of Count Silverio de Baguer.  The winery in Dobrova was built in 1957 and is the largest producer in Slovenia, with a storage capacity in its cellars of 18 million litres of wine. They now have some 1,400 hectare of vineyards, planted with a similar range of varieties as are found in Friuli, just across the border in Italy.  They have four main brands under which they sell their wines: A+, Bagueri, Quercus and Villa Brici.

2007 Quercus Rebula, Vinska Klet Goriška Brda, Goriška Brda, Slovenia, 12.5%
This has a nice interesting nose – fresh and clean, with some pear fruit, and some white flowers.  Nice attractive palate.  This is easy, clean drinking on its own, but would work well with a lot of food.  89/100

2007 Quercus Beli Pinot, Vinska Klet Goriška Brda, Goriška Brda, Slovenia, 13%
Beli Pinot is Pinot Blanc/Bianco.  This has a fresh, gently melon nose.  Crisp, clean palate.  There’s good depth and lots of character.  Again, pleasant on its own, but will come through even better with food.  88/100

2007 Quercus Sivi Pinot, Vinska Klet Goriška Brda, Goriška Brda, Slovenia, 13%
Sivi Pinot is Pinot Gris.  A very subtle nose, giving little away.  Very light, fresh, clean flavours.  Lacking character.  84/100

2006 Quercus Cuvée Beli, Vinska Klet Goriška Brda, Goriška Brda, Slovenia, 14%
This is a blend of chardonnay, rebula and sauvignonasse (or tocai friulano as it used to be known just across the border in Friuli).  An attractive nose with a nice lemon-zesty minerality to the fore.  Very good palate: immediately attractive.  There’s freshness to begin with and then some richness develops.  Nice balance, and a good blend.  Works well.  90/100

2006 Quercus Cabernet Sauvignon, Vinska Klet Goriška Brda, Goriška Brda, Slovenia, 13.5%
The nose is dominated by heavy oak, as is the palate, which is also rather green.  Unimpressive.  80/100

2006 Quercus Cuvée Rdeči, Vinska Klet Goriška Brda, Goriška Brda, Slovenia, 13.5%
A blend of 50% cabernet franc, 25% cabernet sauvignon and 25% merlot.  Again, there’s obvious oak on the nose, but less so than the cabernet sauvignon.  The nose has a nice balance of black fruit and oak, though it’s not at all subtle.  Very open, fresh palate, feeling a touch young.  But it’s pretty decently done.  86/100

2004 Merlot Bagueri, Vinska Klet Goriška Brda, Goriška Brda, Slovenia, 13.5%
A curious bottle, looking like it should hold olive oil, not wine.  Lots of toasty oak dominate the nose.  On the palate, though, the oak is nicely integrated.  But it doesn’t feel much more than a basic heavily oaked merlot.  85/100

Verus

2007 Šipon, Verus, Slovenia
Šipon is the same grape as furmint, the key component of Tokay in Hungary.  There are crisp, fresh apples and pears on the nose, which feels a touch off-dry.  Clean fresh palate, with very good fruit character.  Quite delicate white flower flavours, and a touch floral too.  Very Good Indeed.  92/100