Well macerated Riesling: Štekar - Re Piko 2009

Visiting this idyllically situated winery in Brda was a must after I discovered their wines at Raw Fair in 2013.

Slovenian winemakers adore large bottle formats. Go to any major wine tasting around the Adriatic and you'll see wines being offered from magnum, double-magnum or even jeroboam on occasion. Here's my theory - the bigger the bottle format, the bigger the ego. And there are some pretty big ones amongst winemakers in this part of the world.

I've never seen the Štekars pour from anything other than a standard 75cl bottle, which happily vindicates my personal impression. Janko and his wife Tamara are some of the hardest working, most humble producers in this corner of the wine world. I use the word humble advisedly, because the wines are excellent.