{"title":"Skerk","description":"\u003cp\u003eOn the narrow limestone plateau of Carso, where fierce bora winds whip off the Adriatic and the soil is barely a hand's depth above ancient rock, Sandi Skerk tends some of the most singular vines in all of Italy.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSkerk's property sits in the tiny village of Prepotto, a few hundred meters from the Slovenian border in Friuli Venezia Giulia. The region is culturally and linguistically hybrid -- Sandi speaks Slovenian at home -- and its native grape varieties reflect that borderland identity. Vitovska, Malvasia Istriana, and Terrano are all grapes deeply tied to this strip of territory that exists nowhere else with the same character.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMore on how they farm and work in the cellar in our \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/natural-wine-producers-primal-wine\/skerk\"\u003eSkerk producer profile\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"ograde-vitovska-skerk-friuli-venezia-giulia-italy-orange-wine","title":"Skerk Ograde 2015","description":"\u003cp\u003eOgrade is a roughly equal-parts blend of Vitovska, Malvasia Istriana, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Grigio, grown on the Karst plateau in Duino-Aurisina, in the Carso DOC of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. The vineyards sit at around 250 meters above sea level on iron-rich red limestone soils, roughly 500 meters from the Slovenian border, and just three kilometers from the Adriatic coast.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe name Ograde refers to small, fenced parcels historically used by Karst farmers to protect crops from livestock. Skerk's cellar was once itself an Ograda — a vineyard parcel. The wine draws from several such small plots planted primarily to native varieties.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAll four grape varieties are macerated on their skins for approximately 15 days in open oak vats, then fermented with indigenous yeasts. The wine is aged for 12 months on fine lees in large oak barrels (1,500 to 2,500 liters), followed by a further year in even larger 5,000-liter casks. It is bottled unfiltered, unfined, and without added sulfites.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe color is a rusty orange-amber, visibly darker than Skerk's single-varietal Vitovska. Ian D'Agata scored the 2015 vintage 92 points, noting its perfumed nose of lavender, rose water, crystallized apricot, and ginger, with a steely backbone of acidity and youthfully chewy tannins.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Skerk","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":8500979007543,"sku":"SKEROGRA15C","price":55.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0019\/3363\/9735\/files\/skerk-ograde-natural-wine.jpg?v=1780723799"}],"url":"https:\/\/primalwine.com\/collections\/skerk.oembed","provider":"Primal Wine","version":"1.0","type":"link"}