Bjana Blanc de noir: the first Slovenian white sparkling wine from Pinot Noir

Briška winery Bjana persistently plows the fallow land and raises Slovenian winemaking to the highest level.

From Bjane, behind which Miran and Petra Sirk stand, in 1993 the first brut in Slovenia arrived (Brut year 1990). In the following years, new important milestones in Slovenian winemaking followed: the first gastronomic sparkling wine (Cuvée prestige), the first very dry rosé (Brut rosé) and the first completely dry white sparkling wine (Brut zero). Now she has joined them the first Slovenian white sparkling wine made exclusively from Pinot Noir grapes, Bjana Blanc de noir. According to the sugar level, this falls into the extra brut category (3 to 6 g/l of sugar) and is not as dry as Brut zero, but it is drier than Brut. It is produced exclusively from grapes of the year 2016, which is why it has the label Millesime 2016.

"Fruit notes on the nose are accompanied by an elegant body with lively acidity. Because it matured on yeast for 30 months, it is sufficiently calm and elegant." describes the new sparkling wine by winemaker Miran Sirk, who otherwise is rather tight-lipped when it comes to describing the characteristics of sparkling wines, because a good sparkling wine must convince on its own.

For many years, Miran and his wife Petra have been regularly sending their sparkling wines to the prestigious and demanding assessment of an English magazine decanter, where Bjana received this year 3 silver medals, namely for Brut, Brut rose and Cuvée prestige 2013. Also in London, they received the Glass of Bubbly bronze medal for Brut in the SpringFling category, silver medal for Brut rosé in the Light&Fruity category and gold medal for Cuvée prestige 2013 in the Classic&Elegant category.