In spite of its vast forests, Slovenia is a winegrowing country and
has enough space for the grapevine, which has been at home here for
more than two thousand years. During a good harvest, some 24,500
hectares of vineyards produce around a million hectoliters of
wine. Slovenia's three winegrowing regions of Primorska, Posavje, and
Podravje are divided into fourteen winegrowing districts. Slovenia
boasts a wide variety of vines that produce all the world's well-known
white wines including Rizvanec, Laski Rizling, Renski Rizling,
Sauvignon, Beli Pinot, Sivi Pinot, Chardonnay, Kerner, Traminec,
Rumeni Muskat, and Muskat Otonel and numerous red wines including
Portugalka, Modra Frankinja, Refosk, Barbera, Merlot, Modri Pinot,
Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon.
The winegrowing regions: Primorska, Posavje, Podravje
In all three winegrowing regions, excellent sparkling wine (penina)
is produced according to the classic French method with a second
fermentation in the bottle.
Primorska
The westernmost winegrowing region of Primorska is divided into the
districts of Brda, Kras, Vipava, and Koper, which are known for their
excellent red and white wines. Primorska is particularly proud of its
autochthonous or indigenous grape and wine varieties such as Pikolit
and Rebula, which is particularly at home in Brda, the wine district
that merges at the border with Italy's Collio winegrowing region. We
also find a good Rebula in the Vipava Valley as well as Friulian
Tokaj. Refosk is typical of the Koper district, the red soil of Kras
produces the unique Teran with its distinctive lactic acid content and
Grganja, and the Vipava Valley boasts Grela, Zelen, and Pinela. From
this region come dry wines with a full body and a harmonious integrity
that offer numerous culinary possibilities. Its white wines are
distinguished by fruitiness and a balance between acidity and the
minimal remnants of sugar, while its red wines are most remembered for
their marvelous bouquet and the taste of young forest fruits. The
mature wines have more distinct qualities of the excellent wines that
the world knows largely from France.
Posavje
The Posavje winegrowing region, which lies in the southern and
southeastern parts of Slovenia along the Sava River, includes the Bela
krajina, Dolenjska, and Bizeljsko-Sremiski winegrowing districts. A
real specialty of Dolenjska is Cvicek, a light red wine blended from
two red grape varieties, modra frankinja and zemetna crnina, and a
white variety, kraljevina. It is popular due to its pleasant acidity
and moderate alcohol content. From Bela Krajina also comes the
Metliska Crnina known all across Slovenia.
Podravje
The Podravje winegrowing region in northeastern Slovenia along the
Drava River includes the districts of Maribor, Ljutomer-Ormoz,
Radgonska- Kapelske Gorice, Prekmurske Gorice, Slovenske Gorice,
Srednje Slovenske Gorice, Haloze, and Smarje-Vrstanj. The Podravje
region is known for its wide variety of white wines such as Sipon and
Ranina from Stajerska. There are more semi-dry and semi-sweet wines
than dry wines here, and the region is remarkable for its special
harvest wines and top- quality provenance wines.
