Slovenia: Guerila, an impressive naturally oriented winery in Vipavska
Website: https://guerila.si/?lang=en
The tour of Slovenia continues, and I’m heading to a special valley, Vipavska Dolina, where Zmago Petrič is making some really interesting wines under the name Guerila.
Zmago made his money from a sheet metal fabrication company called Petric d.o.o which he’s still involved with. But Guerila is much more than an expensive hobby: the wines here are quite serious.
Zmago turned to wine in 2005, when he created Guerila in the village of Planina near Ajdovščina in the Vipava valley. His family had vines here, but he also chose the best spots in the valley and planted some more local varieties, taking the total vineyard size to 20 hectares. He’s also built a state-of-the-art winery. Farming is biodynamic, and winemaking is low intervention.
The vineyards look really impressive, built into terraces on the hillsides. And the soils look interesting too. The wines are really exciting, especially some of the more recent, as-yet-unbottled editions.
THE WINES
Guerila Castra Brut Nature 2020 Vipavska Dolina, Slovenia
11.5% alcohol. Total SO2 28 mg/l. 90% Rebula and 10% Zelen. This is bright and pure with lovely energy to the supple citrus and pear fruit with a touch of green apple. Nice concentration with bright acidity. Such promise here, and the future wines from here will be more precise because they now have consultancy from sparkling specialist François Botton. 91/100
Guerila Zeren 2023 Vipavska Dolina, Slovenia
12% alcohol. Stainless steel with some battonage. After racking they add a little bit of sulfites, but otherwise naturally made. Beautiful aromatics here: peach, toast and spice with a touch of honey. The palate has amazing texture and rich, exotic flavours of pear, apricot and peach. It reminds me of Viognier with its palate weight and texture. Not high in acid, but lovely balance with some phenolic freshness. 94/100
Guerila Pinela 2023 Vipavska Dolina, Slovenia
12% alcohol. Just 50 hectares left of Pinela, a local variety just grown in this valley. Full golden colour. Refined nose with some green herbal hints and some taut citrus fruit. This is bold in the mouth with nice crystalline citrus fruits and good acidity. It’s dense and packed with energy, with some herbal detail and a white pepper and mustard hint on the finish. Such a distinctive wine: it’s all about what’s on the palate. 94/100
Guerila Malvazija 2023 Vipavska Dolina, Slovenia
12.5% alcohol. Full yellow colour. Powerful palate with bold lemon, mandarin and pear fruit with crystalline citrus fruit. Concentrated and slightly saline on the finish with lovely fruit intensity. Bold and characterful, with some pithy detail. 94/100
Guerila Selection Rebula 2022 Vipavska Dolina, Slovenia
12.5% alcohol. Full yellow gold colour. Destemmed and 5 days maceration then fermented and aged in large Acacia barrels. Since this they have reduced the maceration to 3 days. Complex, layered and fine-grained with lovely grip under the bold sweet pear, peach and apricot fruit, but there’s some restraint here. Grainy and detailed with concentration, a bit of structure, but also lovely poise. Quite beautiful, and distinctive. 95/100
Guerila Selection Retro 2022 Vipavska Dolina, Slovenia
Laski Rizling, Zelen, Pinella, Rebula and Malvazija. Five varieties harvested the same day, 1.5 years in large acacia barrels after 5 days skin contact. Full golden colour. Really nice aromatics of citrus, orange blossom, mandarin and honey. The palate is lively and has both richness and energy with lovely lemon, mandarin, spice and honey notes, finishing with a touch of tannic grip. Such a complete, complex wine with real appeal, and it really speaks of this dramatic place. 95/100
Guerila Selection Malvazija 2021 Vipavska Dolina, Slovenia
14.5% alcohol. Five days’ skin contact then matured in large acacia barrels. Full golden colour. Really exotic aromatics with floral notes, some table grape, rose petal and honey. Powerful and rich, but with some freshness. Lovely complex fruit with some wood spice and honey, and then white pepper and some bay leaf notes. Really complex, finishing warm and slightly salty. A distinctive wine. 94/100
Guerila Selection Cabernet Franc 2021 Vipavska Dolina, Slovenia
14% alcohol. This is dense and grainy with a stony, grippy edge to the sweet black cherries and blackberries. This has a lot of flavour, and quite a bit of structure. It’s taut, unfurled and finishes grippy and tarry. 91/100
Guerila Selection Barbera 2022 Vipavska Dolina, Slovenia
14% alcohol. Fresh, lively, bold and spicy with keen acidity, with lots of mineral extraction and flavour, finishing fresh and intense. Slightly reductive, but with amazing intensity to the raspberry and cherry fruit with brooding, meaty, spicy depth. A really distinctive interpretation of this variety. 93/100
Guerila Etreme Amphora 2020 Vipavska Dolina, Slovenia
14.5% alcohol. This is Barbera raised in qvevri (they have two 400 litre ones). 25 mg/l sulfites. Bold and intense and layered with grainy structure under the focused red and black fruits. Has freshness and energy and the high acidity means you don’t taste the rather high alcohol. Beautiful and very pure. 94/100
Guerila Selection Retro 2021 Vipavska Dolina, Slovenia
60% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 20% Barbera. Textured, layered and beautifully balanced with a chalky undercurrent to the sweet cherry and berry fruit with a grain, grippy quality. Firm but with nice generosity of fruit, showing a nice grippy savoury edge to the palate. Quite serious, but with angles. 94/100
Guerila Selection Nika 2021 Vipavska Dolina, Slovenia
12% alcohol. Spicy and aromatic with sweet black cherry and blackcurrant fruit, with some stewed plum. Sweet and nicely balanced with lots of sugar, and just enough supporting acidity. The finish is long, spicy and very sweet. 90/100
Samples from tank/cask/amphora:
Zeren 2024
Aromatic, floral and expressive with table grape notes. Super-concentrated palate is textured with fine spices and some pepper. 95/100
Malvazija 2024
Still cloudy. Exotic and finely spiced. Fresh with lovely energy. Grapey, spicy and intense. 94/100
Pinella 2024
Pear drop tank ferment character. Zesty and bold with nice weight. 94/100
Extreme Laski Rizling 2021
This is matured in a Spanish Padilla amphora, no added sulfites. Fermented on skins for 6 months. Such a complex wine: powerful, structured, salty and intense with some tannic structure and fine citrus, pear and apricot fruit. 96/100
Extreme Rebula Malvazija 2021
6 months on skins, then matured in Tava amphora. Exotic, spicy and alive with amazing power and structure. Fine-detailed and grainy. Supple with such balance and purity, and a saline twist on the finish. 96/100
Extreme Rebula 2022
Golden colour. Structured and fresh and fine with great purity and also some tannic grip. Pear, white peach and spiced herbs. Lovely focus and balance. 95/100
Rebula Selection 2023
1.5 days skin contact only, because some of the skins were damaged by the vintage. Fine, light, fresh and drinkable with a slight saltiness. Pure with a nice tension. 93/100
Retro Selection 2022
Complex and lively with some structure. Saline with good focus and a wide dynamic range of flavours. 95/100
Retro Belo 2024
Less maceration than in the past. Complex and saline and pure with nice fruit and a bit of structure. Fresh, very fine and detailed. 95/100
Merlot 2024
From a large cask. Powerful, structured and bold with nice depth and good tannins. Sweet fruit and nice spicy detail. Impressive. 93/100
Cabernet Franc 2024
From a large cask. Chalky, gravelly edge to the fruit. Very typical. Nice density here with some energy, too. 93/100
