UNDERSTAND

Slovenia produces some of the best wines in the world, using indigenous and old-world grapes to create wines that are unique, hyper regional, and highly affordable. People have been making wine in Slovenia for almost as long as humans have known how, and though suffering some very rocky years during the 20th century, Slovenian wine remains world-renowned.

Around 90 million litres of wine is produced in Slovenia each year by nearly 30,000 registered grape growers. However, Slovenian has only 19,000 hectares of wine-producing vineyards, meaning most Slovenian wine makers work with small plots of land, producing small quantities of wine for personal use. While some wine makers in Slovenia make wine for export (think: Movia) the vast majority produce around 20,000 bottles a year, most of them not leaving the region or country. Mores the pity.

REGIONS

Slovenia is divided into three wine making regions: Podravje, Posavje and Primorska. These regions are further divided into nine districts. Podravje, in the north of the country is the largest region and has two districts: Štajerska Slovenija and Prekmurje. Posavje, to the southeast has three: Bizeljsko-Sremič, Bela Krajina and Dolenjska. Primorska, to the south-west has four: Goriška Brda, Vipava, Kras and Slovenska Istra (Slovenian Istria).

KNOW YOUR GRAPES

Refošk

Refošk is probably the most omnipresent red-wine that you’ll find in in Slovenia. Native to the Istrian area, wines made with Refošk are usually powerful and tannic, with a deep violet color and a some bitterness. On the palate, there are often strong currant, wild berry and plum flavors. The wine can stand some ageing (depending on variety), and after a period of four-to-ten years, it achieves a floral quality as well. It goes amazingly with charcuterie, game, and grilled poultry. One thing to note: there is an ongoing dispute between Slovenian and Croatian wine makers over Refošk - the Croatians call Refošk ‘Tener’ for marketing purposes, though the grapes used are genetically identical.

Malvazija

In Slovenian Istria the Malvazija grape is grown in Koper area, especially on Debeli Rtič and Škocjan. Malvazija can be quite bodied for a white and has a high alcohol level. Some of the Malvazija I tasted was a bit sweet, though one particular glass I tasted at Bordon was utterly without equal. While also grown in Italy and Croatia, Malvazija is certainly a wine Slovene wine makers are continuing to experiment with and push, making some excellent skin-contact varieties along the way (more on skin contact wine here)

Blaufränkisch

Don’t let the name put you off, Blaufränkisch, though long claimed by German and Austrian wine makers has recently been revealed via genetic testing to be a Slovenian grape, known locally as Modra Frankinja. Blaufränkisch wines are high on alcohol (noticing a theme?), usually aren’t too or tannic, and last well if cellared for a few years. Though quite acidic normally, the wines can be delightfully fresh and vibrant. I tasted a truly excellent one at Wine Bar Suklje in Ljubljana, which you can read more about here.

Blauer Portugieser

Blauer Portugieser is frequently blended with Blaufränkisch, and produces light, airy reds that are generally thought of more as ‘table wine’ than anything overly life changing. However, Blauer Portugieser can be turned into a fairly decent Rosé, and makes for an excellent red for hot summer days. You’d do well to pair it with a curry, some bread and olive oil, and possibly seafood.

WHAT TO KNOW before sipping

Slovenia qualifies their wine according to the following four levels of quality

Namizno vino - Table wine
Deželno vino PGO - Country wine
Kakovostno vino ZGP - Quality wine
Vrhunsko vino ZGP - Premium quality wine

Moreover, Slovenian authorities also have each bottle of wine further qualified with a ‘sweetness index’ sweetness index, which is labelled clearly on the side of the bottle. This index ranges from:

Suho (dry)
Polsuho (medium-dry)
Polsladko (medium-sweet)
Sladko (sweet)

The special traditional name may be listed on some bottles of wine made from specific Slovenian regions. You may see this annotated with a ‘PTP’ - posebno tradicionalno poimenovanje on the bottle. The PTP wines in Slovenia are the Karst wine Teran from the Slovenian Littoral, the Lower Carniolan wine Cviček, the White Carniolan wines Belokranjec and Metliška Črnina, and both the red and the white Bizeljčan from Bizeljsko-Sremič

new wave

At the time of writing, the ‘natural wine’ movement is continuing to rise and rise. As something of a fanboy of raw, living wines, I was pretty excited to hear that Slovenia has been doing interesting stuff with their wines for thousands of years, and that there was a growing movement in the country to producing living, low intervention wines. In my opinion, the best place to try and sample some interesting natural wine is by going direct to the winery of origin. There are countless winemakers in Slovenia producing low intervention wine, but the following are my personal favourites:

Heaps Good Wine: A New Zealander making Slovenian wine in Slovenia, but in a New Zealand style? Seems confusing, but it isn’t. Heaps Good Wine is located in Ritoznoj, and Nick, the wine maker makes a truly excellent Pinot Noir, and the Chardonnay is out of this world good. You can also find his wines at Wine Store Storija and Tozd Cafe in Ljbuljana.
Bordon Wines: Tucked away near the town of Dekani, the family at Bordon Wines have been making low intervention wine for generations, long before it became trendy. We visited them for a tasting, which you can read all about over here. However, the wines made at Bordon are stunning, with a particular shoutout needing to be made for the skin contact Dora - a breathtaking orange wine.
JNK: Hidden away in Vivipava valley, JNK work with just over 2 hectares and produces Rebula, Malvazija, Friulano, Chardonnay, Pinot Bianco and Sauvignon. Truly excellent stuff, made by the same family in the same place for some time now. No gimmicks, no bullshit. Just good natural wine.
Kmetija Stekar: Known for the distinctive monkey faces on the bottles, Kmetija Stekar makes a truly excellent skin contact Rebula, and is known locally for producing some of the best low intervention wine in Slovenia. We sample a heap of his stuff at Wine Store Storija, and fell truly in love with it. If you can find anything with this label, buy it. Buy it now.

ORANGE WINE

No guide to Slovenian wine would be complete without making note of orange wine. While I wrote a whole post about the topic over here, Orange, or Skin-Contact wine has been made in Slovenia for millenia, and is actually the original way of making wine from green grapes. Skin contact wine is basically white wine that is made by leaving the grape skins on throughout fermentation, unlike regular white wine, where the skins are filtered out. This results in wine that has an orange colour. Skin contact wines, though having a huge resurgence in popularity at the moment, have been made in Slovenia for as long as there has been wine-making, and are truly part of Slovene wine making tradition. Skin contact wines are more bodied than regular white wine and pair really well with meat dishes. I’m a big fan of orange wine, and you’d be crazy not to sample some whilst in Slovenia. Read my guide on Skin contact wines over here for a better understanding!

where to get it

LJUBLJANA

My main suggestion for Ljubljana? Check out Wine Store Storija, located at Trubarjeva cesta 17, 1000 Ljubljana. I wrote a whole post about this place over here, but David at Storija stocks a myriad of orange wines, and will gladly point you in the right direction for anything skin-contact, natural or biodynamic. Outside of that, Wine Bar Suklje carries a few orange wines, and Movia Vinska Sklet also serves them by the glass (they also do a radikon ribolla by the glass, which is exceptional). For more Ljubljana wine bar suggestions, check out my guide here.

MARIBOR

Though small, Maribor has a few wine bars dotted around. The best place in town to grab an orange wine is definitely the Old Vine House. You’ll also be able to get it at Vinag, where they also house one of the biggest cellars in Europe, Rozmarin, a trendy wine bar in town and at Luft, a fairly nice restaurant in Maribor.