I left you with the first part of the Slovenian Wine Festival impressions, where I presented winemakers and wines from wine region Podravje and Posavje. I left a wine region out of the report for a reason…

Wine region Primorska was represented by the biggest number of winemakers. The region has almost 7.000 ha of wineyards, which is 40% of all Slovenia’s winemaking surfafce. The region is divided into 4 wine districts; Slovenska Istra and Kras (Karst) – both districts have over 50% of red varieties (I’m sure you’ve heard of Kraški Teran), Goriška Brda or Slovenian Collio and Vipavska valley where Slovenias only 2 autochthonous varieties Zelen and Pinela are grown.

Selected wines Bordon

Mojca Bordon was my neighbor and a lovely company at the festival. It is always nice to taste their medium dry E.Vin Rose 2008, while this time visitors could also taste Malvazija 2008, Refošk 2008 and E.Vin Rose – straw wine 2005 with a nice Botritys touch on the aroma.

MonteMoro

Working with Matjaž is always a pleasure, so when he called I didn’t hesitate to accept the invitation. Matjaž was presenting his Malvazija 2008, Malvazija aMorus 2007, Chardonnay 2008, Refošk 2008 and Refošk aMorus 2007. MonteMoro divides its range into 2 segments; a fresh traditionally produced line is presented by Malvazija 2008, Chardonnay 2008 and Refošk 2008, while the aMorus line means that wine is marked by a longer maceration and then grown for 12 months in 225 and 400 liter oak barrels, when bottled it rests for 3 months before entering the market. Visitors liked Malvazija 2008, Malvazija aMorus 2007, Refošk aMorus 2007 and Chardonnay 2008. I was impressed with the Chardonnay 2008, the wine is made from younger vines, with a load not bigger than 0,5 kg per vine. The result is a fresh, medium dry, well structured and quite balanced wine.

Rojac wine

Uh, the chats I had with Sara, Primož and Uroš. Can’t wait to meet the guys again and of course taste their Stari d’or red 2005. The wine is an impressive kind of Merlot, Cabernet sauvignon, Syrah and Refošk, making it a full bodied and well structured wine, with intense aromas of mature red fruit but you can also sense jam nuances, and spices, namely black pepper. Their Renero 2005 presents also a huge potential and it is part of an experiment of taking Refošk to the next level – as Primož presented it. Not to mention ther Malvazija 2008, Stari d’or white 2006 and Aurelia would also be an injustice.

Čotar wines

Starting the representatives of Krast with Vasja Čotar. Their wines, white and red, are made after a longer maceration process and then aged in oak barrels. This time the wines presented were Vitovska 2006, Malvazija 2005, Teran 2007 and Merlot 2003. Unfortunately at that time I only managed to try their sparkling Rdeče, made from Karst grown Refosco grapes.

Štemberger wines

Štemberger winemakers come from Karst. Their vineyards; placed on the border between the Karst region and Vipavska valley, present a powerful combination and at Štemberger are trying to take the advantages from both terroirs. I’m sure I’ll have the chance to write more about them on my blog. The wines presented were Zelen 2008, Chardonnay 2005, Cabernet sauvignon 2007 and Merlot 2007.

Guerila wines

The autochthonous Zelen 2008 and Pinela 2008, Rose 2007, Roma 2006, Rika 2008 and Castra Rose all well structured wines each with a different story and of course the charisma…

Sončni škol wines

I met with wines of Sončni škol for the firs time and got intrigued. Definitely can’t wait to try them again. The wines presented were Klarnica 2007, Pinela 2006, Pinot noir 2007, Rebula 2006 and a rose made entirely of Cabernet sauvignon.

Mansus Makovec wines

The wines presented were Klarnica 2008, Sauvignonasse 2008, Barbera rose 2008, Merlot 2007, Klarnica 2007. Watch out for their Klarnica 2007, it impressed me.

Čarga 1767 – Viticulture and winemaking

I’m writing this still under the influence of the wonderful time, spent at their mansion past Saturday, but I’ll leave this to another post. The wines presented were Donna Regina sparkling wine, Rebula 2008, Sauvignon 2008, Pinot noir 2005, Cabernet franc selection 2006 and his young wine Vinovo. All this respectfully presented by mr. Erzetič.

Unfortunately the mass at other winemakers from Slovenian Collio was unbearable, I could merely take some pictures at some stands, but couldn’t take any notes.

I then went on to try wines of Prinčič with an outstanding Mulit white 2006 (the wine is a kind with Viognier, a variety they are introducing in Slovenia), Blažič with Blaž white 2006, Peršolja wines Rebula 2008, Edi Simčič with an intriguing Malvazija 2007 with aromas of conifer trees, Valter Sirk‘s Chardonnay 2007 and Ščurek‘s Chardonnay 2008.

At the end of the festival I managed to try Šumenjak‘s wines. The wines presented were Yellow muscat 2008, Welsch Riesling 2008, Pinot noir 2007 and Sauvignon 2008. Šumenjak wines come from the wine region Podravje.

Here’s also some pictures of the venue at hotel Union:

I definitely got a lot of impressions and can surely say the festival presented a nice introspective into Slovenian wine – culture. If you are a foreign visitor and wine enthusiast you definitely need to come and visit the festival next year.

Cheers!

It’s been a while after the festival and here I am, with a brief report and the first part of mine impressions…

As you noticed in my previous post, the festival was divided into 2 venues. The venue at hotel Union was mainly reserved for the promotion of winemakers that are part of the Family estate association, there was also some room for wines of foreign countries and other major resellers presenting their catalog range. Unfortunately I couldn’t make it to the venue at hotel Slon, so I can’t say much about that.

On the 2^nd day I took an hour of time to visit the stands. Matjaž, winemaker MonteMoro replaced me for that time, but unfortunately it happened to be when it was most crowded. None the less I still managed to do a quick sip & spit tour. Even though, due to the lack of time I didn’t manage to stop at every stand so, here is just a few of the impressions… I must also apologize to readers and winemakers for the lack of descriptions but I’m sure I”ll be writing in details about some of these wines shortly.

I started tasting wine from wine region Podravje. The region is known for its white varieties, although red varieties are also becoming notable. None the less the world’s oldest vine comes from this district. You’ll find dry as well as medium dry wines, that have a distinct freshness ideal for ageing. Non the less the region is known for its Predicats.

Miro wines

Miro was presenting his Furmint 2008, Blue frankinja 2008, XL 2007 and Fuga mundi 2006. Miro wines are divided into two segments; if you’re prefer fresh wines, with distinct varietal notes then look for his orange marked screwcapped bottles. For lovers of oak barrells grown wine the color to watch is black. Of course a special packaging is reserved for his Botrytis marked Fuga mundi.

Verus vineyards

You probably read Jancis Robinsons impressions about their Furmint 2007. This time visitors had the chance to try Chardonnay 2008, Welsch Riesling 2008, Sauvignon 2008 and Pinot Gris 2008. Verus wines have distinct varietal aromas, are well structured and quite ballanced. I got impressed by their Chardonnay, wich was partialy aged in oak barells.

Kupljen wine

The atmosphere at Kupljen wines was really happy, unfortunatelly due to lack of time I stoped only to do a quick sip & spit and to take some pictures. The wines dislayed were Welsch Riesling 2008, Furmint 2008, Sirius 2008 and Pinot noir Selection 2007.

Gaube wine

I already mentioned Gaube wines on my blog. This time I could try his Pinot gris 2008, Kerner 2008, Chardonnay 2008 and Welschriesling 2008.

Steyer wines

Quick stop to try their 8 cuvee 2008, Steyer Mark cuvee 2007, Gewurtztraminer 2008 and Gewurtztraminer extreme 2007.

Joannes wines

I interrupted the chat between winemaker mr. Protner and Slovenian Collio’s winemaker mr. Sirk to try his Sauvignon 2008, Welschriesling 2007, Welschriesling 2006 and Pinot gris – rose 2008. I must say I got impressed by his Welschriesling 2006 and Pinot gris – rose.

Graben wines

Unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures at Graben wines, the only representatives of the wine region Posavje. They were presenting Pinot gris 2008, Traminer 1998, Gamay 2003 and Blue frankinja 2004. I found the last two wines quite interesting.

This is it for now, stay tuned for more and cheers!

Yes, I’m back, finally! Sorry for this long hiatus but I’m sure you’ll understand. There are some new things coming up, to mention one is a fresh design, thanks to my colleagues.

OK, since this is a blog about Slovene wine I have to start with, … for some of you maybe boring stuff…, but to understand Slovenia as a wine making country you have to know some of the following data.

Slovenia has approximately 22.000 hectares of vineyards, about 17.000 are registered. Wine is produced in 14 wine districts which are united in 3 wine regions:

- wine region Primorska,
- wine region Podravje,
- wine region Posavje.

(This is a wonderful map, but the name of the wine district Koper is wrong, it was changed to Slovenska Istra)

There are more than 27.800 registered winemakers, amongst them 1.700 bottling their own wine. Slovenian winemakers produce about 50.000.000 to 65.000.000 liters of wine yearly.

More than 50 different varieties of vine is being grown herem with white varieties prevailing. Vineyards are growing on steep slopes which on one hand results in high production costs, but on the other it brings high quality crop. In fact more than 60% of produced wine is of a higher quality.

The vineyards surface hasn’t changed a lot in the last few years, the vineyards were expanding until 1996, but then started to decline slowly. The prevailing white varietal vine declined in this period from 76% to 72%. Since the surface remained almost the same, the crop of grapes and wine was almost solely dependent of the weather.

This is it for now. That’s just some pure huge information, which will be explained throughout the blog. Next time I’ll present you our wine regions and their prevailing vine varieties so stay tuned…

Cheers!