Vina Bordon - Slovenian Wine Tasting Experience

‘A little *more* special’

An intimate tasting at a family run Slovenian Winery

Where

Only an hour’s drive from Slovenia’s capital Ljubljana and 15 minutes from Slovenias only coast line and port town Koper in Slovenian Istra.

Why

An intimate and authentic introduction to Slovenian wine, regions, production, and history by a family run, ecologically certified incredibly passionate Bordon family.

‘The smell and taste of Wine is magic’ Eva Bordon

After a few emails to and fro between Eva, the matriarch of Vina Bordon, we settled on the first Saturday in February for a tasting at their winery. Driving into their lush, green property amidst the heavy mist of winter, you’d be forgiven in thinking that you hadn’t entered a fairytale dream sequence. We were half expecting a forest nymph to be wandering through the vine wrapped trees so strong was the magic here; just picture the sight of a beautiful flowing river, gently running beside the boundary of the old stone house. A truly special sight.

After mistakenly ringing the wrong doorbell, we eventually alighted on the correct one; Eva emerged through the beautiful forest green timber doors bright eyed, impassioned and ready to talk us through her families estate and wines. Eva and her husband Boris manage each aspect of the winery from picking grapes to bottling. Alongside their siblings, children and in-laws, Bordon is a full family affair from first principles, and it shows in each aspect of the experience there.

We start our visit with a tour and Eva welcomes us into an old stone building in the heart of the property. Originally serving as a mill before Boris’ father Ivan moved to wine production and sale, we could still see the original machinery that ground the grain into flour, a centuries old piece of technology just sitting there in the house with its enormous stone grinding plates in place. The house has its own manmade stream that runs parallel to the river which used to turn 5 enormous waterwheels for milling. You can hear the stream as you move about the property, a beautiful sound of twinkling water following you wherever you go.

We then followed Eva into the second building which has been beautifully renovated from the remains of one of the stone farm buildings. Slick stainless steel fermentation tanks sit along one wall like soldiers, watching over the oak barrels that sit opposite. The modern architecture compliments both the original building and give a nod to the verdant wooded landscape that can be seen through the impressive floor to ceiling two-storey glass pane at the end of the large room. We can only imagine how beautiful this room would be come summer, with golden filtering through, it would be nothing short of magical.

Eva explains that in the mid 1980’s her father in-law Ivan was the first private winemaker in the region and, at the time, was one of only ten in the whole of Slovenia. Ivan was often criticised by locals for his winemaking methods in an effort to be as sustainable and ecological as possible, methods which now are extremely ‘on trend’ in the wine world. The patriarch is described as a disciplined and hard working perfectionist whose pedantic ways may have annoyed his family at the time, but led to some incredible innovations in winemaking. Ivan was ahead of his time, producing Rosé and macerated skin contact orange wines, neither of which were well received in 1980’s Slovenia. However, both of these are now hugely popular, and sell out year on year. Eva’s husband, Boris and their son Jan stay true to the methodology of their forefather and are making some cracking wines to show for it.

Entering the main tasting room, we are confronted with a wall plastered floor-to-roof with gold and silver medals from international and local wine festivals. Eva notices us looking at the accolades;

‘We do not work to get awards, we believe that if you do the hard work and are disciplined and regimented the wines will speak for themselves and that is the reward’.

Slovenian wine is hard to get in Australia and although we had done a bit of reading and knew about the main red Refošk (Refosco del Peduncolo Verde) and white Malvasia, we were otherwise completely ignorant of Slovenian wine and its regions. With incredible knowledge and passion, Eva walked us through the world of Slovenian wine as we started our tasting. Then, without any pretence and in exceptional English we were treated to the most genuine and informative tasting we have ever experienced.

For each wine we were told a story, first of the winemaking process; maceration, barrelling and ageing, types of oaks used and why. Then of the reasoning in each step to get the desired palate and bouquet. And finally of the personal plight of each vintage; the ‘bad’ years and how they overcame them, the help from family, friends and neighbours when the first massive orders came through and they couldn’t get the truck down to the property and had to move furniture out of their house to fit all of the palates of wine and makes room for bottling. By the time we got up to the final two ‘premier’ wines in the tasting we were absolutely entranced by the incredible and genuine passion of Eva and hung on her every word.

The tasting is catered to whatever and however many wines you would like to try. Eva is great at guiding you in these choices so we listened to her. There are 15 wines by the glass to choose from including sparkling, white, reds, dessert and premium. Prices are clearly noted and sit between 2-4 euro per glass with the wines grouped according to price point. This is paired with the option of having a delicious plate of cold meats and cheese along with home baked bread and their own ecologically certified olive oil that has a distinct spiciness, but is a little more balanced and fruity than it’s Croatian Istrian neighbours.

Wines

We tried 8 of the 15 wines available and were not disappointed. Starting with the Evina Pennia sparkling Rosé, sweetly named after Eva herself, followed by the Malvazija. Next we tried the beautiful organic amber coloured cuvee - Anabela, a bit of word play referring to both their daughters, ‘Anna’ name and ‘Eno’ for one and ‘bela’ white. Acidic, bold and ripe we could see ourselves sitting in the sun in the hot Australian summer drinking a whole bottle of this while grilling up some fresh seafood. Although it’d be hard to share, we’d have loved to take this back to our friends at home, knowing they’d never have tried anything like it.

We then moved onto the red wine, trying our first ever Refošk followed by the 2010 Bon D’or blend of 40% cabernet sauvignon, 40% merlot, 10% Refošk, 10% cabernet franc. Both beautiful ripe reds, the Bon D’or stood out as firm favourite as Eva tells us how she feels that wine is magic in its ability to produce flavours of plums and blackberries when none are added. Truly a testament to the excellent things biodynamic producers can do, the Bon D’Or was a stunning drop and we finished our glasses with relish. Referring to all the wines as ‘special,’ Eva referred to the still-to-come premium wines as ‘special, but a little more so’.

“We bought a bottle and even googled shipping costs to Australia as we sat at the tasting it was so bloody good.”

First up was a skin-contact orange wine ‘Dora Malvasia’, named after the matriarch of the Bordon estate and labelled with a beautiful depiction of her face in her younger years. Only 1200 bottles available, and only made in select vintages, this is a special wine. The bouquet alone had us salivating with its fruity smells of dried apricot and sweet marmalade. Pat loves an skin-contact, and absolutely loves fruit forward wine - Grandma Dora delivered on both, with bold, crisp flavours, with mild acidity, true macerated deliciousness. We bought a bottle and even googled shipping costs to Australia as we sat at the tasting - it was so bloody good.

Finishing off with some big old reds, first the Merlot and then the old man himself, Ivanov, Bordon’s premier Refosk, vintage 2009. Labelled similarly to his wife Dora’s bottle, Ivan sports a stern Austro-Hungarian style moustache and beard, fitting perfectly to Eva’s description of what the man was said to be like. This is a big full wine; ruby red, tannic, ripe and bold, with a nice balance between the hint of fruity sweetness and the dryness that Refosks are so well known for. This paired with the down-home cuisine of Eastern Europe and you will be well set up for the best meal of your life.

Pleasantly surprised by our perceived sobriety at this point of the evening, we were praising the fatty smoked and aged meats, olive oil and breads for laying down a nice base for our tasting session. A session which usually would run for 90 minutes, saw us chatting, drinking and laughing with Eva for 3 hours - the blessing of travelling in the middle of winter.

Bordon was our first stop in Slovenia and suffice to say, Eva provided us with a very high benchmark for the next two weeks of our adventures through the country.

To visit Bordon enquire about reservations and general information via tel. no .: +386 (o) 41 721 228 or e-mail: bordon.wines@gmail.com

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