In terms of fascination, Batič’s Cabernet has created sheer sensory overload: We witnessed two sellout offers in the past couple of years, and the few cases we “snuck” into our online store were discovered so quickly it’s as if they’d been fitted with a tracking device. Wines that disappear at this speed are generally reserved for legendary producers like France’s Ganevat, Austria’s Knoll, or Italy’s Montevertine—not Slovenia’s Batič! If you missed the previous vintage, read on to discover why this ancient, biodynamic, and borderline supernatural Slovenian estate has turned every head at SommSelect. If, however, you were able to snag the ’17, I’ll leave you with this: Today’s 2018 release is an astonishing feat that reaches entirely new levels of profundity—do not miss it.

In 1592, monks of the Batič estate began crafting sacramental wines for Mass, and 429 years later, the Batič family still carries their winemaking torch with a transcendent, one-with-nature mindset. By channeling the wisdom of their ancestors and hand-working their raw material via biodynamics and beyond (more on that below), nobody could ever hope to replicate today’s mind-blowingly pure and soulful Cabernet Franc. These wines are rarely seen in the US—we’re currently the only ones with this 2018—so if you want to experience its extraordinary, otherworldly properties, here’s your extremely limited chance.

Located in Slovenia’s renowned Vipava Valley, just a handful of miles from the border of Italy, this continuously run, 429-year-old winemaking estate is truly one of a kind. Therefore, current proprietor Miha Batič believes to his core that it shouldn’t be squandered. To him, anything that survives four centuries unscathed deserves to be treated as sacred—and that’s exactly how he carries out his philosophies. 

Miha’s 19 hectares are spread throughout three small villages and each one is naturally farmed to the highest degree. While they do hold both organic and biodynamic certifications, the Batič family goes much deeper, almost crossing into another dimension. They crank it up a few notches by downright flirting with the occult: their vines wake up to the bright sound of a trumpet and farming occurs with the elementals of fire and air. The latter is a Physics-based Cropping System that they themselves invented. Essentially, this extraterrestrial-looking apparatus mimics the warm breeze of nature by blowing 75-degree heat on the vines which helps prevent diseases and deter pests. 

Come harvest, their Cabernet Franc grapes are carefully hand-harvested, sometimes weeks apart, and what happens next is the signature of Batič: nothing. Like the monks that were crafting wine in this very spot ~430 years ago, they allow a long, all-natural, indigenous fermentation in open-top wood containers. Following, the wine is transferred into Slovenian (and some Slavonian) oak barrels and allowed to mature for nearly two years, completely undisturbed. The wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered with little-to-no sulfur additions. All of this, of course, is monitored and carried out in concurrence with the lunar cycle. 

After spending two years in old barrels, and nearly another resting in bottle at their cellar, today’s Cabernet Franc has morphed into a texturally deep and haunting red swirling with cosmic energy. That’s the beauty of biodynamic, purely crafted, long-aged Cabernet! What’s immediately apparent with today’s 2018 is its Cabernet Franc typicity: This is an exceptional wine with the aromatic savor and lift of cult Loire Valley classics and the broad power of blue-chip Saint-Émilion. This 2018 is far less ‘prickly’ and ‘natty’ than the ’17—it’s all about lush and elegant layers of currant, black cherry, licorice, tobacco, sweet herbs, crushed rock, black raspberry, damp violets, and green peppercorn. I recommend a 30-minute decant and a slow drinking experience that’s stretched out over two days. Few Cabernets in the world, at this price, showcase this amount of energy, finesse, and restrained power. Really, the entire package here is downright incredible. Enjoy now and over the next decade—although I won’t be surprised if you find a dust-caked bottle in the back of your cellar 20+ years from now and it’s drinking superbly. Cheers!