This richly illustrated book introduces readers to "the golden one," as Rebula has been lovingly described. Rebula grapes, an ancient varietal once prized by princes and popes, are indigenous to the region that now straddles the border between Italy and Slovenia. On the Italian side the area is called Collio, in Slovenia Goriska Brda. It has been rated by experts as among the top five wine terroirs on the planet, shoulder to shoulder with Bordeaux and Tuscany. Wine experts agree, calling Rebula "a dream wine of a new age." Rebula was rated the World's Best Wine in 2010 by sommelier Luca Gardini, and a Rebula has received an astounding 100 points on Wine Spectator's 100-point scale. Beautifully designed with full-color photographs, the book recounts the fascinating story of Rebula and the history of wine in what was once Yugoslavia and is now Slovenia. The protagonist is a remarkable vintner, Zvonimir Simcic, one of the founders of what was Yugoslavia's most important winery before the country fragmented. Almost single-handedly responsible for the preservation of Rebula, he resurrected the forgotten varietal and transformed his home region, spectacular Goriska Brda, from a poverty-stricken area into one of the globe's great wine destinations. Pulitzer finalist Noah Charney provides a personal, humorous, deeply engaged travelogue through the little-known world of Slovenian wine that will delight adventurous travelers and wine lovers everywhere.
Noah Charney is an internationally known American writer. He publishes regularly in the Guardian, the Washington Post, and beyond. He is the author of more than a dozen books, many of them best-sellers and translated into more than fourteen languages. He lives in Slovenia.
You've heard of white and red wines, of course, and possibly even orange and green. Now meet the gold wine, Rebula (Ribolla Gialla in Italian).
"Rebula is a secret treasure of the Central European wine scene: a taste of Habsburg glory we can still enjoy today. Noah Charney traces its history in Slovenia's Brda hills with particular emphasis on its human stories. Were it not for three recent generations, all would have been lost. Charney has talked to the key figures; he tells their important stories with zest and humour in this valuable, entertaining book." -- Andrew Jefford, writer at Decanter and World of Fine Wine "In this love letter to his adopted country and its greatest wine, Charney combines entertaining memoir with an art historian's eye to detail and history. Since Charney starts off as a wine novice, we get to learn along with his charming and unpretentious self about Slovenia's 'Golden One.'" -- Robert Camuto, author of South of Somewhere: Wine, Food and the Soul of Italy
