Hey Paul B...Wines of Slovenia!

Paul, I thought you might be interested in this website. Otto has mentioned this area in the past I believe and I have just come across some wines from the area. Has to be some interesting viticulture here!

http://www.matkurja.com/projects/wine/

Thanks, Bob!

Slovenia borders Austria, which is one of my favourite wine-producing countries. No doubt this will make for interesting reading.

Thanks for the link, Bob. That Site is a wealth of information.
The Slovene wines I've had, particularly Edi Simcic ones, have been pretty impressive. I'm surprised TerryTheise
hasn't started mining this area yet. There's (apparently) a lot of Friulian winemakers who think that their area's best
grapes are grown across the border in Slovenia. It's apparently a very porous border, wine- and grape-wise.
Tom

Thanks Paul and Tom. I think there are some big things happening here, have to give Terry and Lou the nudge wink!! Thats your job Tom.

Thanks for the link, Bob. That Site is a wealth of information.
The Slovene wines I've had, particularly Edi Simcic ones, have been pretty impressive. I'm surprised TerryTheise
hasn't started mining this area yet. There's (apparently) a lot of Friulian winemakers who think that their area's best
grapes are grown across the border in Slovenia. It's apparently a very porous border, wine- and grape-wise.
Tom

I asked Terry about bringing in wines from other central European countries and he told me 'Christ, It's hard enough to sell Austrian wine. Let someone else do it." The man has a point.

After WWI, When Slovenia gained independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Collio wine growing region remained intact and now saddles the border of Italy and Slovenia. I've talked to a few producers up there who prefer the terroir in Slovenia.

I am sure that wines from Slovenia merit investigation as much as those of Friuli, about which i am woefully ignorant. We had a presentation of Slovene wines here in Brussels which, however, was a missed opportunity because the whites were served too cold and the reds too warm. I did buy an experimental bottle of Refosc which I may open tonight depending what Germaine puts on the table.

[Robin Garr]

I am sure that wines from Slovenia merit investigation as much as those of Friuli, about which i am woefully ignorant. We had a presentation of Slovene wines here in Brussels which, however, was a missed opportunity because the whites were served too cold and the reds too warm. I did buy an experimental bottle of Refosc which I may open tonight depending what Germaine puts on the table.

Having traveled in Slovenia to some extent (I spent a week in the very small country's wine regions around each of two or three judging trips to a major international competition in Ljubljana, the capital), I'd make a couple of points:

* There's plenty of potential there. There's a reason why the lion's share of wine made in the former Yugoslavia came from Slovenia (and most of the rest from Croatia next door): By history, tradition, geography and climate, it's the best suited for wine, and even the excesses of state control under Tito didn't really make for bad wine, just industrial wine.

* The country is tiny - about the size of Connecticut - and it really doesn't make enough wine for export as anything but a novelty item. A few of the export-oriented producers, particularly Movia, crank out all they can, but it's only enough to be distributed in NYC and a few other American cities.

* Although it's small, the wine regions are separate and surprisingly diverse. Goriska Brda is the bit that used to be part of Collio. Now that Slovenia is in the EU and there's no more border-crossing red tape, you can get up around Cividale and smaller villages in Collio and drive around without ever really knowing which country you're in. Even the road signs and most of the people tend to be bilingual on both sides of the border, and the wines are very much the same. But go over to the Austrian border around Maribor (where forumite Tom K lives) and you'll find the wines more like Austrians. Southeast, the wines are like those in neighboring Croatia, and Southwest, around Koper, you're in another region (Istria) that used to be Italian.

[David M. Bueker]

* The country is tiny - about the size of Connecticut .

Who you callin' tiny??!! I'll sick a pack o' Huskies on ya.

I've found the Movia Ribolla Gialla (Rebula) from Brda to be very tasty and reasonably priced and I've buried some of the '02s to see how they age. I should pull one soon, it has been too long since I've had a Ribolla.

Slovenia is one of the most interesting regions I have recently explored. Sadly they are very difficult to find. Dveri Pax, Movia, Edi Simčič, Simčič Marjan, Jeruzalem Ormož and Miro Vino are some of the producers I've enjoyed. Sadly they don't always get the oak right.

-Otto

[Robin Garr]

Sadly they don't always get the oak right.

It has been a few years since my last visit, but I'd venture a guess that they're still so new to oak - or its modern use, anyway - that they're still experimenting. Post-Tito, most of the small producers were constrained by economy to using big plastic vessels (!) I've got a photo of some around here somewhere. The more successful producers (Movia, among others) excitedly bought barriques as soon as they could afford them, and I think there was a period in which a lot of them were using heavy oak just because they could. This too shall pass, I expect, and perhaps it already is passing.

A few of the export-oriented producers, particularly Movia, crank out all they can, but it's only enough to be distributed in NYC and a few other American cities........and Edmonton, boss!! Heck, being here on this forum, I feel I live in the States!!

I've found the Movia Ribolla Gialla (Rebula) from Brda to be very tasty and reasonably priced and I've buried some of the '02s to see how they age. I should pull one soon, it has been too long since I've had a Ribolla.

Dan, lets get together here when you pull yours out and I will open my Movia I found here yesterday!

Hi,

Tomorrow 23 wineproducers from Slovenia are in Denmark http://www.vinfestival.dk/udstillere_slovenien.htm in Danish only, but you can see who the producers are.

All the best
Birger

I've found the Movia Ribolla Gialla (Rebula) from Brda to be very tasty and reasonably priced and I've buried some of the '02s to see how they age. I should pull one soon, it has been too long since I've had a Ribolla.

Dan, lets get together here when you pull yours out and I will open my Movia I found here yesterday!

Sounds like a plan. I'll look for mine this weekend.

OK, Dan, we can post our notes on the Ribolla thread I have just answered to? Or shall we start a new post?