Domacija Butul

Tatjana, Mitja & & Crt Butul

Ístra

Manžan

Butul farmhouse is located a few km from the Adriatic Sea in the Slovenian Istria. In 2000, the desire for a healthy life style and the connection to nature led the decision for Tatjana and Mitja Butul to move from the centre of Koper back to their roots, close to the rural area around the village of Manžan. Running along the Gulf of Trieste, Slovenska Istra enjoys one of the warmest climates with the sunniest days in Slovenia. The vines are planted on an ancient seabed consisting of Eocene flysch with marl and gravel. Strongly connected to the Slow Food movement, they promote traditional Istrian dishes in their culinary studio with the use of seasonal and local ingredients. Their son and head chef Crt Butul is recognized as one of Slovenia’s up-and-coming star chefs. They grow ingredients and products used for culinary creations, and organize workshops to share the importance of sustainable development and non-invasive cooperation with nature. During winter months, they move to their second house in Sri Lanka where they grow tropical crops.

Winemaking has been a family tradition for the past 4 generations. All wines are aged on lees for two years or more in a wooden barrel to add richness, depth and intensity and to naturally absorb oxygen in the juice. This operation is processed without the use of any oenological ingredients, except small amounts of sulphur at bottling for some cuvées. Butul uses the traditional process of prolonged maceration for all red wines and all whites; macerating white grapes gives a typical orange wine, traditional type of white from the Karst and Istria regions. This process was used to produce high-level wines for the aristocracy. The secret of good grape berry drying is the natural drying process of the ‘burja’ wind (a cold northerly regional wind). The result is a special Amarone type of dry red wine and dry whites. These natural antioxidants give additional richness to white wines; mineral taste, ripen fruits are combined to earthy cloudiness. Dried grapes are also used as a “spice” for other wines, adding richness to the Ripasso style wine.