RED WINE 
ROSÈ WINE 
WHITE WINE 
ORANGE WINE 
SWEET WINE 
SPARKLING WINE 
CHAMPAGNE 
SPARKLING 
SPARKLING 
SPARKLING 
.jpg)
LA STOPPA.jpg)
.jpg)
DOMAINE BALLORIN
Producer
Skerlj
Italy, Friuli Venezia Giulia
Trieste
Trieste
10000 bottles in the cellar
Specialities: Orange wine
The Carso (Karst) is a formidable limestone plateau stretching from northeastern Italy to southwestern Slovenia. In this breathtaking corner shaped by rocks and the sea (just 15 km away), the estate's two hectares of vineyards share the space with the wild and beautiful forest that surrounds them. For generations, the Skerlj family has worked this land, raising pigs, growing wheat, and producing natural wines that capture the untamed spirit of this border region. In the mid-1960s, the grandfather of Matej and Kristina Skerlj—who currently run the estate—opened an "osmizza" in his native village of Sales. In addition to offering homemade wine to the locals, he sold eggs from the family chickens and cured meats from their own pigs. They began bottling in 2004, adopting a non-invasive approach in the cellar that seeks simplicity while working with precision and extreme care. Their winemaking is ultra-traditional: three-week maceration on the skins, gentle pressing, and aging for at least 2 years in large barrels.
Great respect for the terroir and the grapes
Simplicity in the cellar, because most of the effort is dedicated to the vineyard. Since 2020, they have been experimenting with green manure and spontaneous cover crops between the rows. The goal is "not to lose the soil's vitality, but rather to increase it; we are experimenting, but we’ve seen that despite the drought-prone area, a beautiful plant cover in the vineyard gives us healthy and very green vines during the vegetative period." The strictly native grape varieties cultivated in a natural and respectful way are: Terrano, Malvasia, and Vitoska. Their wines don't just express the terroir, they scream it; the combination of pure limestone soils, the influence of the sea and the mountains, and the intense, deep flavor of the grapes is impressive. These guys have achieved a certainly difficult goal: to reproduce a territory in their wines—a territory made of stone and rock, where the work is strenuous and the processes are entirely manual. A borderland where two cultures meet, with different languages, histories, and backgrounds; a place where you can feel the sea's influence and the wind is always blowing. Very old vineyards (80 years old) alongside younger ones grown in high-density bush-training (alberello), all with very low yields, produce bright and mineral wines that carry the scent of the rich local flora, such as juniper, laurel, and broom. Finally on Rolling, one of the most identity-driven producers of the Carso! Not to be missed!
