Marjan Simcic, Ribolla Opoka, Goriska Brda, Slovenia, 2014

Award-winning winemaker Marjan Simcic has helped to bring the wines of Slovenia to a new, fine-wine audience, demonstrating the potential of the Goriska Brda region and of the Ribolla grape. 'It's a neutral grape, and soaks up terroir,' he says. In this case, that terroir is 'opoka', a slate soil rich in minerals that produces incredibly low yields of around three to four bunches per vine. The fruit undergoes further selection before a partial maceration at low temperature. It's aged for almost two years in conical 500-litre oak vats, before a further 18 months of bottle ageing. The result is a wine of gorgeous texture; mid-gold in the glass, with concentrated characters of bruised apple and almonds. Mineral and complex.