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Meditations on Humanity and the Vine with Movia

 
Time spent with Ales Kristancic, owner of Movia is always special.  Despite the fact that english is not his first language, his ability to articulate the essence of winegrowing remains unmatched.   According to Ales, wine happens only when the passions of the plant kingdom meet the passions of the animal kingdom. By contrast, he states that water was already present on earth when man arrived, it was a given.  Wine is only here because vines need animals to proliferate and animals need the fruit of the vine in order to survive.  The magic truly happens when the fungi living on the skins of the fruit are introduced to the sugars within thanks to the "passions" of man.  Too often, this "Botany of Desire" as Michael Pollan calls it, or "Divine Gift" as Ales calls it, goes completely unnoticed and unappreciated.   For Ales, hailing from the family that has owned Movia for over 6 generations, it is a way of daily conversation, reflection, philosphy and life.  

One of his wines, Lunar, is a tribute to this passion.   In the making of Lunar, grapes are destemmed and placed in small barrels, much like ancient man may have done as a hunter-gatherer (his passion for wild grapes perhaps being greater than that of other plants).   Maybe he put those grapes in a sack or gourd or hole in the ground to store for later.  Lunar is left untouched for 9 moon cycles and is then "decanted" and bottled...that's it, a modern representation of the dawn of wine.   An interesting wine in theory but in practice absolutely delicious...with a lovely nose of peaches, white flowers and wild honey.   Long, mineral-laden tree fruit flavors lavish the palate and complex spice elements appear on the finish.

Ales sees the flowering of vines as their passionate phase, their filigreed, delicate, scented flowers beckoning to the bees (working tirelessly in their quest for nectar) where their fertile pollen can be found. If the bees don't come, there is no fruit and no chance of proliferation.   It is a time of great effort on the part of the vine, using the resources of sun and soil to their fullest.   Ales would ask if it is really any different in human life?   In a reflection of this passion Movia has created a pair of wines named Veliko.  Veliko red and white are blends of those wines from vines which flower earliest to latest.   In this way the maximum "length" of passion is captured in the wine.   As Ales is fond of saying, "I don't make these big wines, I make long wines."   The Veliko white is very broad and expressive with rich tree fruits and minerals.  Chardonnay being a component, the wine is very Burgundian in spirit with high tones and mineral notes. The Veliko Red is fresh, floral and intense with berry fruit and slate-y dark mineral tones.   The wine has great length and power.   Think about the choices you make when you buy, sell or suggest wine. With the vast majority of our business dominated by corporate brands and therefore chances are we will never get to hear Ales' voice.  In spite of the fact that he represents the ancient core of what instinctually draws us to wine, many of us will never buy, sell, drink or suggest his wines.  That's wrong, for if you are to truly to consider the vine and how it relates to you, the experience of a Movia wine will be truly enriching and your relationship with wine will be changed forever...promise.

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