Atelier Kramar

Gorižka Brda, Slovenia

Atelier Kramar is Katja and Matjaz, a husband and wife team who made their living as artists for many years (her as a painter, him as a sculptor) before building their dream 'atelier' on top of a beautiful hill in Brda, Slovenia 20 years ago. They happened to have vines on their property, they were surrounded by winemakers and hence slowly fell into winemaking, something which they have switched to doing full time over the last 10 or so years. 

 

Viticulture here has always been done with the utmost respect for the life of the soil. Their vineyards follow the beautiful rolling slopes of the hills surrounding their home, and are planted with Rebula, Friulano, Malvasia, and Merlot. The dominant soil type here is localled named ‘Ponca,’ and is a mix of sandstone and marl along with some marine fossils, remnants of when this part of the world was still under the sea. When made with the lightest touch, wines from these soils tend to exhibit a salty, briny character with lovely tension. 

Brda is the region most closely linked with Collio (Friuli) in Italy as it is just over the border. Both regions share similar soils, grape varieties, as well as winemaking traditions. In fact many winemakers from both countries have vineyards on both sides.

In the cellar, Matjaz and Katja always do a bit of short skin contact on their whites (3-4 days) for full grape expression, aromatic intensity as well as a fuller texture on the palate. However the focus is always on wines that can still be approachable in their youth. Their one red however sees longer maceration and much longer aging. 

Below is an excerpt from their website which encapsulates their vision: Artistic creations happen in a process which comes from the inside. It is a process that requires a lot of concentration, concentration on you, on your sensibility, on the happenings around you. It is a path of loneliness.


The work with nature requires the same concentration, but nature exists by itself. Nature can’t be created, it wants to be discovered, encouraged and admired and this is hard work, a long way. The glass of wine is like an art object, created in a long proceeding, from planning to exposing in an art gallery.  In creating wine, the creative melancholy is less present, you have to be more pragmatic. The glass of wine, in our case, is a process of maturation, the grape an event of joy, the earth the connecting element. Nothing is abstract, everything is concrete, the rain, the heat, the hail, the frost, the aching back at the end of the day.


The glass of wine in our hands… It is more than a recompense; it is a little miracle that wants to be discovered. It is a piece of art that humans created for the joy of the spirit and the body. We are artists making wine, with a lot of love, dedication and tenacity.