Slovenia Is the Most Underrated Wine Country in Europe

The most recent, best wine area in Europe is something but up-and-coming. In actuality, it’s been at it for hundreds of several years. Viticulture in Slovenia has extensive been overshadowed by neighboring Italian wine locations, but Slovenia is considerably from being a new wave wine producer, as winemaking in the country dates back to Celtic tribes in 400 B.C.E.

“Slovenia is home to the oldest vine in the earth, which has been making grapes considering that the 16th century in the Podravje wine-escalating location,” Valentina O’Kane, a Slovenian vacation advisor, states. The vine has been rising for 450 a long time (and there’s even a song about it).

Additional and far more, however, wine professionals and travellers are commencing to understand Slovenia for its remarkable winemaking. The state has not long ago received various global awards, including 5 platinum, seven gold, 60 silver, and 114 bronze medals at the 2022 Decanter Entire world Wine Awards. Despite Slovenia becoming fifty percent the sizing of Switzerland, the state boasts in excess of 2,500 wine producers that develop around 90 million liters of wine per year. It has 3 wine-rising regions and nine wine-expanding districts.

“According to aerial photographs, there are just beneath 18,550 hectares of vineyards in Slovenia,” Morana Polovič, a sommelier and project supervisor at the Slovenian Tourist Board, claims. Slovenian wines are numerous and differ from whole-bodied to light. The country generates 52 varieties, together with white, purple, rosé, orange (also recognised as amber), Malvasia, and glowing. Jap Slovenia is house to purple varietals, although white wines are generated in the west. 

Polovič shares that white wine is 70 per cent of the Slovenian wine output, with Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Rebula being produced in Goriška Brda. “Rebula is a dry white wine cultivated on Slovenian soil considering the fact that the 13th century,” O’Kane claims. Četrtič’s Ferdinand vineyard can make organic and natural wine with Rebula grapes that have an aroma of dried autumn fruits and spices with notes of apricot, spices, chamomile, and basil. 

Slovenia is most famous for its orange wines, which had been made common internationally by Joško Gravner — an influential ethnically Slovenian winemaker. In the 1990s Gravner frequented Georgia, the birthplace of orange wine, which is typically macerated in clay vessels known as qvevri. Gravner introduced qvevri vessels from Georgia back to Slovenia and started building orange wine. Nowadays, orange wines are made in all Slovenian wine locations. Kabaj, which has been regarded as one particular of the 100 greatest wineries in the entire world 4 times by Wine & Spirits, creates Amfora, an amber wine that is macerated for 12 months in a qvevri. 

From sampling sparkling wine rooted in monastic history to blind wine tasting in a cave, Slovenia offers unforgettable wine experiences for wine-loving vacationers. The Rajhenburg Castle has a basement cellar that was reworked into a glowing wine-tasting place in Oct 2021 to honor the castle’s wine record. In the late 1800s Trappist monks lived in the castle and ended up the to start with to carry sparkling wine to the location.

The monks’ wine-making legacy is honored these days as the cellar exclusively suppliers glowing wines from the area. “The finest sparkling wines from the area are introduced. Currently, 13 winemakers with about 40 glowing wines are represented in the cellar, but the offer is consistently upgraded,” Ksenja Kragl from the tasting place claims. 

In the castle’s tasting room, you can sample sparkling wines from Janez Istenič, who became the first private producer of bottle-fermented sparkling wine in Slovenia in 1968. “The excellent soil is rich in silicate deposits rarely identified somewhere else and is a issue in the great minerality with extraordinary freshness and fruitiness of our sparkling wines with no added sulfites,” Miha Istenič, CEO of Istenič and son of founder Janez Istenič, claims. Other glowing wines obtainable to test include things like Koznic, Keltis Mario Rozé, and Domaine Slapsak.

Wine tourism is blossoming in Slovenia with numerous wineries opening their estates to company. Tri Lučke is a spouse and children-owned guest household surrounded by grape vines in Posavje, the coronary heart of Slovenia’s wine place located in the southeastern aspect of the region. In 1874, the estate belonged to Rely Attems, who crafted a substantial wood and stone wine press that is continue to on show currently as a protected cultural monument. The Posavje location is celebrated for red wines, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Zweigelt. Ptujska Klet is a modest winery nearby known for making classic local specialties, like Cviček which is composed of both white and red grapes. 

If you can’t make it to Slovenia at any time soon to drink glowing wine in a castle or taste a flight of orange wines, really don’t fret — Slovenian wine is producing its way to speciality wine merchants across the U.S. and on-line. Order a number of bottles from Triglav Wines to sip on as you prepare your take a look at to Europe’s most underrated wine desired destination.