My August Wine of the Month

Doppler
“Diona”
Blanc de Blanc
2009

The House of Wine Doppler is located in the Štajerska region of Slovenia.  Originally owned by the Benedictines from Admont in Austria, Ivan Doppler bought this estate in 1938.  He fulfilled his life’s dream and enjoyed 89 harvests before passing his knowledge and love of the vine, along with the winery, down to his daughter.  His granddaughter Mihaela is now enthusiastically running the winery, calling it not only her work, but also her life!  She is developing the estate into a state-of-the-art winemaking facility, which combines modern technology with centuries-old winery traditions.

The Wine – Doppler’s 2009 “Diona” is a lovely sparkling wine consisting of 100% Chardonnay.  It was made in the méthode traditionnelle, with the second fermentation in the bottle, and aged on the lees for 18 months.   It has wonderful granny smith apple and pear on the palate, along with the perfect amount of yeastiness.  The lively mineral notes are nicely balanced with some vanilla cream.

Visiting the Winery – This may be the most beautiful tasting room I’ve ever visited.  We began the tasting outside above the tasting room!  We had a glass of the “Diona” while enjoying their 360-degree views of gorgeous rolling hills with vineyards.  We next headed downstairs to the ultra modern tasting room and winery, which was just opened in May of 2010.  The experience was so special that I will be sure to blog about the winery in the near future and add lots of pictures.

The Journey – The House of Wine Doppler is located very close to South Styria in Austria, where we were staying.  We took country roads through breathtakingly beautiful areas and were pleasantly surprised to arrive at the most beautiful of all.  To top it all off, the wines were wonderful as well!  Check Doppler out at: http://doppler.si/