Brda

The documents read here record the legal shape of the district rather than its earlier history. Goriška Brda has been protected as an EU wine PDO since 17 February 2006, in the national system built on the three regions and nine districts. Its boundary runs from the south-western slope of Sabotin along the state border with Italy to the west and north, then east over the hill of Čipca and back south by roads and a stream to the 300 m contour above the Sabotin road. The technical file describes the district as homogeneous, so it is not divided into subdistricts, only into wine-growing places and sites. It also records long-standing practices: terracing slopes against erosion, cleaning vines by hand, and drying Rebula and Chardonnay on straw in dry autumns for special wines.

The technical file describes Brda as a continuation of the Eocene syncline of the Vipava valley. Dense streams have cut the weak but water-holding flysch into low hills, with rounded tops up to 350 m running mostly south-west and fairly steep slopes that must largely be terraced. Flysch, a rapid alternation of marine clastic sediments, gives deep loamy to loamy-clay soils. On the steepest slopes they are shallow, stony rendzinas, neutral and carbonate-bearing; on gentler slopes eutric cambisols more than 60 cm deep; after deep ploughing, rigosols 60–80 cm deep with humus usually below 2%. Vines may be planted only on such "absolute vineyard land"; pseudogleyed soils are less suitable. The file cites low rainfall and Mediterranean temperatures of up to 37 °C during ripening. The government adds cool afternoon winds from the Alps and warm ones from the Gulf of Trieste.

The technical file says that terraces, low rainfall and Mediterranean warmth during ripening bring grapes to 20–25 Brix, while heat speeds the fall in acidity to 3.5–6.5 g/l. White wines are golden-yellow, often bordering on amber, with 12.5–16% alcohol, high extract and what the file calls rich mineral content, warm with long finishes; secondary aromas of overripe and dried fruit with herbal notes are more common than primary aromas. Reds reach similar sugar levels and their colour and tannin structure suit ageing in wood. Where malolactic fermentation does not take place, malic acid keeps the wine fresh and fruity. Base wine for sparkling wine is described as distinctly fruity and fresh.

The technical file permits 15 white varieties (Rebula, Malvazija, Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Beli Pinot, Zeleni Sauvignon, Sivi Pinot, Rumeni Muškat, Briška Glera, Prosecco, Verduc, Pikolit, Poljšakica, Klarnica and Pergolin) and 9 red (Merlot, Modri Pinot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Barbera, Refošk, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Gamay and Pokalca). Its list of main varieties is Rebula, Chardonnay, Sauvignon, Malvazija, Beli and Sivi Pinot, Rumeni Muškat, Merlot, Refošk and Cabernet Sauvignon. Wines are classed as kakovostno or vrhunsko vino ZGP, with quality sparkling wine, must score at least 16 in tasting, and are limited to 8,000 litres per hectare. Wines from straw-dried grapes keep residual sugar, reach 12–15% vol and mature 2–4 years in wood. The government says Rebula covers more than a quarter of the vineyards and names white blends of Chardonnay and Rebula and red blends of Merlot and both Cabernets as the best-known wines.