Wine Houses Of Slovenia

Trska Gora

The wine houses that we see today, dotted about the vine growing landscapes of Slovenia, are a direct connection with the past and the history of the country of Slovenia – the rural, pastoral, tangible history, depicting the accommodation offered here.
Viewed now, they are delightful, picturesque, colourful, small but sturdy, residences that look akin to a typical second home. Closer inspection however, will reveal that there is more to the wine houses than them being just an apparent ornament, the roofs providing a vivid splash of red on an otherwise sea of green. That there is some new build is understandable, although this is usually on a previous site, but the majority of these structures are old, hundreds of years old and this can be seen in the timbers, exposed at the ends of the houses, weathered by rain, sun, snow and wind – the very sinews of the wood exposed, matured and gnarled.

Wine House Slovenia

The red is provided by the clay tiles, fixed on the steeply pitched roofs, protection from the rain and snow. Water is strangely at a premium in these hilly areas, as it is in the whole of Slovenia – its industrialisation by steam never really succeeding – and so these days water is collected from the roofs, as you would expect to see in more southern countries.

And the locations, perched as if they are stuck on the precipitous slopes by an unknown hand, in the middle of both horizontal and vertical lines of vines, thousands of them filling the hillsides overlooking the valleys below, accessible only by torturously steep and winding lanes, bounded by unforgiving stone walls.

The term second home is not out of place, as that is exactly what they were originally, used only when work had to be done here, tending the vines, harvesting and pressing the grapes and maintaining the vineyard as a whole. On ground level there would be a small kitchen and stove, a seating area and a place to work indoors – pressing grapes, fashioning repairs as needed. Above, provision for short stays, a few small wooden framed beds and below, or at the rear, built into the hillside, a cellar, for storing foodstuffs and of course the fundamental elemental – the wine. At the front, sometimes a balcony, fashioned out of wood, as was of course the furniture – each area having its own distinctive carved pattern, such as the pattern of the mountains of the horizon of that locale. Outside, sometimes adjoining, there would be buildings for animals or for the more successful, cover for the carts and horses, along with ploughs and other farming implements.

Wines of Slovenia

Slovenian Wine

For such a small country, Slovenia is blessed with an astonishing range of wines, of equally astonishing quality. In some ways, this is largely due to a hangover from its socialist past, when wine growers were limited to no more than 9 hectares of land. Individual growers, making wines for themselves and the local populace, needed to ensure that all their grapes were not in one basket, as it were - so they developed many varieties on comparatively small plots of land. This in turn led to much experimentation and ever tighter control over specific varieties.

The best wines are certainly produced by the small winegrowers like Marjan Simčič, Movia’s Aleš Kristančič, Edi Simčič, Stojan Ščurek, Aljoša Jakončič, Stanko Čurin, and Sutor’s Primož Lavrenčič for instance. They produce a number of different grape varieties, some well known and some rather interesting native ones.

Posavje was named after the river Sava, flowing through the area. It is subdivided into three districts (Bela Krajina, Dolenjska, Bizeljsko-Brežice), the most famous one is Dolenjska, Slovenian symbol of wine production and viticulture. Dolenjska is famous for production of Cviček, Slovenian national red wine, made from mixture of white and red wine grape. Cviček contains less alcohol than other wines and is to some, a little sour.

Slovenian Wine Cellars

Wine cellar Metlika
Cesta XV. brigade 2, 8330 Metlika
tel: 00 386 7 363 70 00, fax: 00 386 7 363 70 11,

Just 30 minutes for Novo Mesto, offering

- cellar tour
- wine tasting
- various snacks
- light meals
- lunches
- dinners

The tasting room can house groups of up to 55 people. Groups of more than ten preferred. All wines in the wine cellar can also be purchased.

For reservations, call 07/ 363 70 52 between 8am and 3pm during the week or between 8am and noon on Saturdays.

Prus viticulture, viniculture and beekeeping
Krmačina 6, 8330 Metlika
tel: 00 386 7 305 90 98

Just 30 minutes from Novo Mesto

Wines for some of the best state banquets come from this cellar.

At 2-hour tasting sessions, guests can taste top-notch wines in beautiful Oskar Kogoj bottles (Italian and Rhine Riesling, Yellow Muscat, Sauvignon, Pinot Gris, Dišeči traminec) as well as opened Metlika black and Bela Krajina white.
The cellar is famous for Prus predicate wines such as wines made from dried grapes, selection of dry berries (award-winning Yellow Muscat, berry selections and ice wine).

Besides wine, honey is also available for sale.
Capacity: 50 people

Wine cellar Pirc
Ravni 3, 8270 Krško
tel: 00 386 7 491 31 08,
www.klet-pirc.si

Just 30 minutes from Novo Mesto

The farm is located in Ravni, on the Upper Dolenjska wine Road with a 50-year tradition. The authentic cviček is produced on 12 hectares of vineyards with 50,000 hand-picked grapevines of the Žametna črnina, Blue Franc, Kraljevina and Italian Riesling varieties. Plenty of sun, a favourable climate and favourable soil composition help make this wine truly special. The first time you try it, you will be charmed by its gentle, slightly bitter taste, its ruby red colour and its fruity aroma. This CVIČEK will lighten your spirit, fortify your body and fill you with cheer!

They sell:
- Cviček
- Blue Franc
- Dolenjsko belo

Wine cellar Uršič
Slap 76a, 5271 Vipava
tel: 00 386 5 364 57 16

90 minutes from Novo Mesto

This is a wine-growing farm with 16 hectares of wine-growing land. In these vineyards they grow authentic old Vipava vine sorts, such as Pinela and Zelen. They also have ecological production of other white and red grape varieties. Their wine cellar offers a choice of high-quality wines, which you can also taste in the coolness of the cellar. They have both wine from the wood and bottled wine. If arranged in advance, they can show you the vineyards and the wine cellar including wine tasting.

Viticulture Malnarič
Vavpča vas 40, 8333 Semič
tel: 00 386 7 306 72 06

Just 30 minutes from Novo Mesto

Wine Sales and Tasting high-quality white and red wines, excellent bottled wines, Barrique wines and predicate wines.

Wine tastings organized for smaller and larger groups of up to 70 people.

Sale of home grown apples held in cold storage.

Krško wine cellar
Rostoharjeva 88, 8270 Krško
tel: 00 386 7 488 25 02

Just 30 minutes from Novo Mesto

The wine cellar is located in Leskovec pri Krškem founded in 1993. The cooperative society owns 30 hectares of land, and they buy grapes from about 300 society members in the Dolenjska and Bizeljsko-Sremiška wine regions.

Aside from the famous CVIČEK, the Krško wine cellar offers the excellent BLUE FRANC as well as the following white wines:

- GREEN SYLVAN
- SAUVIGNON
- WHITE PINOT
- CHARDONNAY
- PREDICATE WINES.

You can try all these wines in the tasting rooms.

Wine cellar Trzin
Ljubljanska 15, 1236 Trzin
tel: 00 386 1 564 11 51

One hour from Novo Mesto

The wine cellar in Trzin offers both wine from the wood and bottled wine, which has been ecologically produced on the sunny hillsides of the Upper-Vipava Valley. Taste white and red wine before buying. If previously arranged, they offer wine tasting for small groups and also sell cooled wine on the spot for picnics and other kinds of celebrations.

Opening hours:
- Monday to Thursday from 12 to 19 o'clock
- Friday from 9 to 19 o'clock
- Saturday from 9 to 14 o'clock.

Istenič sparkling wines
Stara vas 7, 8259 Bizeljsko
tel: 00 386 7 495 15 59

One hour from Novo Mesto

The estate in Stara vas has the perfect conditions for the production of high quality sparkling wines.

Special attention to the culture of sparkling wine drinking. The tasting room can accept up to 80 visitors, so they are not adverse to large groups.

They offer cold cuts along with our wine, and a rich variety of warm dishes is also available by prior arrangement. Guests who taste the sparkling and calm wines are also invited to have a look at the wine cellar where they produce sparkling wines. Wine is sold at reasonable prices.

The doors are open to business tourism with a conference room that has room for 40 people and contains all the equipment necessary for business meetings and seminars.

Najger wine cellar and repnica
Brezovica 32, 8259 Bizeljsko
tel: 00 386 7 495 11 15

One hour from Novo Mesto

The caves were dug into quartz sand deposited in the Bizeljsko area by the Pannonian sea millions of years ago. For two hundred years, they have been used exclusively to store crops.

- tours of Repnica by arrangement all year round
- tastings for up to 50 people from 9am to 9pm
- white and red Bizeljčan
- Yellow Muscat
- Pinot Gris
- Italian Riesling
- Lemberger
- barrique
- cold cuts, cheese
- homemade strudel