If you've been reading my blog for the last few years and know me, you also know it doesn't take much to convince me to explore the wines of a new place while I'm traveling. Slovenia proved to be no different.
After all, working in a tasting room of a local winery for the last nearly five years has exposed me to many fellow wine lovers and broadened my knowledge of the wines in the area where I live and beyond, but being able to taste and learn in the countries and regions where the grapes are grown and wines are produced is invigorating to me. As I researched my time in Slovenia prior to my trip, initially it did not strike me as a highly touristed wine destination. Certainly not up there with France and Italy, countries well known for their wine production and wine tourism. Even as I read through the few trusted tour books I'd borrowed from the library, Slovenia's wine regions were mentioned, but it was not at the top of the lists as a must see and do. But as I began to dig in a little further, I quickly realized there is a huge wine culture in Slovenia, which should not have been surprising to me after having experienced a little of the wine culture in it's neighboring "brother" country of Croatia a few years before. This knowledge was quickly affirmed during my first lunch in Ljubljana the day I arrived when my server readily recommended several Slovenian wines to go along with my pizza and engaged in a conversation with me about their wine. The pride was evident.
I quickly reached out to my wine tour guide, Mario of Dubrovnik Wine Tours, whom I spent a day with exploring wines of the Peljesac region of coastal Croatia for recommendations on where to start as I recalled during the day I spent tasting with him that he mentioned a tiny bit about Slovenian wines. He directed me to a few wineries in the Goriska Brda region, which borders the Italian border of Slovenia and is known to be Slovenian's version of Tuscany. It sounded lovely and exactly what I was looking for, but something made me research a little bit further.
I quickly learned that there are three distinct wine growing regions in Slovenia including over 2,500 wine producers. For a country with the population of 2.1 million people and one of the smallest countries in Europe, that's a lot of wine being produced. But, I'd never come across a Slovenian wine in stores locally and knew little about it. As I googled, I noticed that the wine tour companies providing full day wine tours from Ljubljana all were focused on the Goriska Brda region. As I dug further, I discovered the Podravje wine region, to the north east of Ljubljana and surrounding the countries second largest city, Maribor. It is the largest wine growing region and most known for its whites. While I do like a mix of all varietals while tasting and exploring wines, there were a few things about heading towards this region that intrigued me. One, it seemed to be less tourist traveled and two, it took me in the opposite direction of the two other day trips I had planned during my time in Slovenia to Lake Bled, which is to the west and Postojna Cave and Predjama Castle which was south and on the way to Trieste where I'd continue my trip the next week. So, wanting to see as much of Slovenia as I could in five days, I set my sights on heading north east to the Podravje, or Styria wine region which is also near the Austrian and Hungarian borders of Slovenia.
Although none of the wine tour companies I located offered tours to this area, I found one, Wine Tours Slovenia, that offered to take me on a private tour to this region. I quickly confirmed and set it up for the day after I arrived in Ljubljana.
Sunday, September 11th, 2022
A few days before I arrived in Ljubljana, I received a message from my wine tour guide, Tina, inquiring if I minded if two other individuals join my private tour as they had inquired about the same day. I readily agreed as it's always fun to meet more wine-loving people. She picked me up from my hotel, we picked up our fellow wine tasters and off we set towards Maribor. Energetic and enthusiastic to tell us about Slovenian wine, Tina provided a crash course of sorts as we headed to our first winery of the day, Ramsak Winery, a family owned wine producer and the home to the largest old wooden press in Slovenia.
We were greeted by the wine maker (who's name I have sadly forgotten) and were given a tour of the winery, gawked over the immense wooden press and visited his cave-like cellar. He shared his family's history of growing grapes and making wine, as well. Similar to the stories I'd heard in Croatia during my time wine tasting there, Slovenia was also a former Yugoslavian state and was held to the same standards of wine making as Croatia prior to the war and becoming an independent country. Thus, Slovenian wine, like Croatian wine, has only been sold to the public for about 30 years. What I found even more interesting is that Slovenian's are very proud of their wine and consume most of their wine, only exporting about 5%. Hence the reason I'd not come across Slovenian wine in the U.S.
The winemaker guided us through tasting six of his white wines including a Zeleni Silvanec (Silvaner), Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Sivi Pinot (Pinot Gris), Rumeni Muscat, Laski Riesling, all equally refreshing providing an example of the large variety of whites produced in this region. As it was also harvest, the wine maker also had several varieties of the grapes fresh from the vines for us to try along with an assortment of local cheeses and nuts. I snagged a bottle of my favorite (which I promptly shared with a friend while in Croatia the following week) and snapped a few pictures before we headed to our next stop.
Next up was a stop for lunch at a restaurant near Maribor that included a large feast of typical Slovenian hearty foods; salads, meats, potatoes with a glass of wine, of course. All of it was very enjoyable and believe it or not I did not take a single picture- perhaps because I was enjoying the food!
After our meal we headed to a winery that Tina remarked had been on her list to visit for a long while, Doppler winery. During our drive, Tina had shared that it was the first time she had taken a tour to the Styria wine region as most travelers often request tours to Goriska Brda and Vipava Valley, which is in the same area. She also shared that she was excited to take a tour out to this region as she, like I, loved exploring new areas that were not as heavily touristed. Doppler was well known for their wines, but also their views of the valley below, which we quickly began to see as we made our way up a winding road to the winery.
A winery with strong family ties and if I remember correctly, a female winemaker; the winery tasting room was modern and tastefully decorated with a nice indoor area, lower level private party room and a gorgeous patio providing a fabulous view of the vines and valley below. We were greeted by a family member who guided us through our seated tasting of six wines (four whites, a rose' and a red), each bottle with a unique label that represented something related to the family. Our tasting was accompanied by a beautifully presented tasting board of cheeses, crackers and meats and a luscious cheese dip made with pumpkin seed oil which I quickly learned is very popular in Slovenia.
The wines were certainly memorable here. It was the Sipon that stuck out for me as new to me grape varietal I'd tasted little of before. Also known as Furmint, a widely recognized Hungarian grape, I remembered learning about it in my WSET- Level 2 course a few summers before. Given the proximity to the Hungarian border, small plantings of Sipon, what it is called in Slovenia are common in this region. We spent a few hours enjoying this beautiful property, wandering the grounds and taking in the view from the patio. They are open late into the evening as their patio is strategically situated to view the sun as it's sets across the vines and the valley below. It definitely was a place I'd love to return to.
As we made our way back to Ljubljana after a particularly enjoyable and relaxing day, Tina shared some recommendations for us to try more wines during our remaining time in Ljubljana. One of her recommendations, and one that I'd read about during my research was to visit the Wine Bar Suklje, situated right along the river. After bidding Tina and my wine tasting companions farewell, I grabbed a light dinner and headed to the wine bar where I enjoyed a lovely flight with a friendly sommelier as the sun set over Ljubljana. It was the perfect end to a fantastic day, and a wonderful introduction to Slovenian wine. Thank you, Tina and Wine Tours Slovenia.
"Wine is a passport to the world." - Thom Elkjer
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