Širjá 2019 by Rojac

At RURALL, we don’t repeat ourselves. After Dobro rdeče, which spoke in warmth and ease, Širjá arrives with a different voice. It’s not here to please — it’s here to stay. Made for the moments that cut deeper. For good company, yes — but also for the silences in between. It’s a wine that doesn’t ask for attention. It earns it.

Discover Širjá

  • Two brothers, two paths — one vineyard. After years apart, a quiet collaboration revives a single-varietal Syrah, once set aside, now returned with new fire.
    Širjá isn’t about rules or categories. It’s about tension, depth, and the kind of taste that stays with you — long after the last glass.

  • Some say Syrah, others Shiraz. We call it Širjá — not just for the place it’s from, but for how it feels. Grown and made by Rojac in Slovenska Istra is old, warm, and stubborn like its people.. Selected by RURALL. No blends, no shortcuts. Just Syrah, unfiltered.

  • The label doesn’t decorate the bottle — it reacts to what’s inside. Generated by AI, shaped by the taste of Širjá, and cast in the rhythm of Op Art. It’s precise, but it pulses. Just like the wine. We work with soil, barrels, time — but we’re not stuck in the past. This is craft with an open mind. Rooted in tradition, not frozen by it.
    That’s why the design isn’t decorative. It’s a reaction to the wine. A visual echo of what Širjá does to the senses.

  • The label looks like a postage-stamp. It’s a nod to things once sent by hand, slowly, with care. Now Širjá moves faster — online, direct — but the intent stays the same: to get something real to someone who’ll feel it. No frills. Just closeness, bottled.

  • Syrah from Istria, bottled solo again after years.
    A wine that tastes of fruit and fire — blackberry, plum, fig, black pepper, liqorice. Matured in oak, but without soft edges. It’s honest. Textured. A little wild.

Taste: No Shortcuts

Širjá is 100% Syrah — nothing added, nothing softened. It opens with dark, juicy fruit and spices: blackberry, plum, fig, black pepper and liquorice,. It doesn’t aim to charm into simplicity. It builds. With each sip, new layers emerge: dried herbs, stony minerality, subtle sweetness. The finish is long and slightly wild — like it doesn’t want to leave.

Aged in oak, but not overworked. The texture is structured, almost raw, with a mineral undercurrent and dry grip. Every layer speaks of where it comes from — Slovenska Istra — and why it came back.

This isn’t about balance. It’s about presence. And a finish that doesn’t ask to be remembered. It just stays.

Širjá: The Return of a Gritty Classic

This isn’t nostalgia. It’s unfinished business.

In the early 2000s, Uroš Rojac was a pioneer in Slovenia to plant Syrah and bottle it solo. It was bold. It was new. And it worked. But later, he shifted focus to native varieties, and Syrah faded quietly into the background — still aging in barrels, still full of potential.

Širjá brings it back.

At RURALL, we saw what was sitting there — and felt it shouldn’t be left behind. Primož, who grew up among those vines, went back into the cellar. Not to blend, not to adjust — but to reclaim.

What came out is Širjá. A Syrah that speaks of early vision, raw terrain, and time underground. It’s not a tribute. It’s a continuation.

Taste it and judge for yourself — was it worth coming back for? We think so.

Two Brothers: One Barrel Left Open

Širjá isn’t just a wine — it’s a reconnection.

Primož and Uroš grew up on the same land but took different turns. One stayed with the vines. The other went into law, then into ideas. Years passed. Paths diverged. Then circled back.

What brought them together again wasn’t nostalgia — it was a barrel of Syrah no one had touched for years. Primož tasted it, and knew. Not a blend. Not a compromise. Just something left unfinished.

Širjá is what happens when you come back to something with a clearer sense of why it mattered in the first place.

Heritage: Nothing New Under the Vines

Slovenian Istria isn’t just beautiful — it’s tough, dry, and full of stories no one bothered to write down. The Rojac family has worked these hills for generations. Mostly Refošk and Malvazija — what the region is known for. But Bruno Rojac had other ideas too.

He planted Cabernet, Merlot, and Syrah in one of his sunniest vineyards. Not to prove a point. Just because it would’ve been a waste not to. Those vines held on — deep roots, old soil, full sun. Then time moved on, and they waited.

The vineyard was called Stari d’or — Old Gold. A name from Napoleon’s time, when soldiers found a ruined Roman road here. Some said they found gold, too. No one ever confirmed it. But the vines? They’re still here. Maybe that’s the gold.

We at RURALL didn’t want to let it sit in the past. Širjá is what happens when you open that story back up.

Artistry: Nothing Added but Time

Uroš Rojac doesn’t talk much about winemaking as art. He just does the work. No shortcuts, no chasing trends — just listening to the land, trusting the process, and knowing when to wait.

Širja isn’t polished to please. It’s not made to impress. It’s made like it always was — by hand, by instinct, and by someone who’s been around vines long enough to know when to step back.

This isn’t about legacy. It’s about doing the thing right. And letting the wine speak for itself.

Last But Not Least: The Text on The Label

The image was created with artificial intelligence, but the label wasn’t finished without the human hand. Just like there’s no wine without people. Geometry and movement, drawn from the Op Art tradition, speak in the rhythm of the wine — not as an explanation, but as a response.

The colors: all in contrast, all in vibration. Like the wine’s aroma — blackberry, plum, fig jam, pepper, sweet licorice. Clearly but roughly defined. No illusion of softness.

The wine is full, raw, untamed. The shapes move. They pulse. They deceive the eye — just as the wine deceives the senses.

What seems clear becomes more complex with each sip. Širja doesn’t follow trends. It doesn’t seduce. It takes hold — and stays. Like taste, like thought, like a pulse.

Location: 240 m above sea level, on hills in the hinterland of Koper with a view toward Izola
Exposure: Southeast
Soil: Eocene flysch with layers of limestone
In the vineyard: Grass-covered, hand-harvested, yield of 0.75 kg per vine
In the cellar: Spontaneous fermentation, aged in wood, unfiltered, with attention to lunar phases
Total acidity: 7.4 g/l
pH: 3.39
SO₂ – free/total: 6 mg/l, 14.5 mg/l