Slovenian wine, authentic and high quality

Slovenia is Europe in miniature: the sunny Adriatic Sea in the south, rural lowlands with authentic villages in the middle and snow-capped Alpine peaks in the north. Wine is made in the East and in the West. Wine from the East has an Austrian feel, wine from the West Italian. In every region, winemakers succeed in making high quality, often based on old traditions. Very authentic.

Slovenian wine history dates back to before Roman times. In the Middle Ages, the Christian Church dominated wine production and Slovenian wine was still highly regarded. After the phylloxera epidemic at the end of the nineteenth century and communism in the twentieth century, the development of Slovenian winemaking came to a virtual standstill.

A 400-year-old vine from Maribor in eastern Slovenia, which is revered as a saint by the locals; a folk song that tells the story of wine rather than heroic deeds. They are exemplary of the rich Slovenian wine tradition.

Most Slovenian wineries now operate on a small scale. Most cooperatives have disappeared. Quality is paramount. Many winemakers often produce no more than a few thousand bottles per year. For comparison: The surface area of ​​all Slovenian vineyards is comparable to Bordeaux, but the production is only half.

Because Slovenia is located at the crossroads of historical trade routes, the wine culture has French, Italian and German influences. Different types of wines are made in different Slovenian wine regions. With grapes and taste styles that can be traced back to the countries with which they originally had the most trade contact.

Vineyards in Primorje in the west of the country literally border on Italian vineyards. The wines can often be compared to them. In the east, on the other hand, the Slovenian vineyards are located near the Austrian border and the wines are again very comparable to the style of Styria.

Several international grape varieties are grown in Slovenia, such as Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot. But indigenous Central European grape varieties are also common. The best known are Furmint, Malvazija, Refošk and Ribolla (in Slovenia: Rebula), which you can also find across the Italian border in Friuli. Lesser known varieties include Zelen, Vitovska and Pinela.

About three quarters of the wines produced are white. Almost all wine is consumed locally. In recent years, professional Slovenian winegrowers have increasingly produced tight white quality wines, which are drunk young. The flashy marketing, in which the origin plays a subordinate role, attracts attention. It seems to be a successful formula for quietly bringing Slovenian quality into the Western European living room.