Slovenia is a small European country with a Long history of wine production. This is not surprising given its Mediterranean location between the Northern latitudes of 45 and 47 degrees, latitudes shared by Bordeaux, Burgundy and the northern Rhône. The country is also bordered by four of Europe's Oldest wine producing countries: Croatia to the South, Hungary to the east, Austria to the north and Italy to the west.
Despite the cultural and political turmoil that has besieged the Balkan states over the past century, Slovenia has maintained its wine industry, which has flourished particularly since the country gained independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991.
Slovenia is largely landlocked, with only a few kilometers of coastline at the top of the Istrian peninsula, just south of Trieste and the Venezia-giulia/friuli">Friuli-venezia-giulia/carso">Carso DOC of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Slovenia's Climate has some maritime tendency to the west, drawn from the northern Adriatic, while there are strong continental influences to the north and east, created by the Alps and the Pannonian basin. The topographical variation makes it difficult to classify Slovenia into a climatic category, and its climate is often described as "sub-Mediterranean".
This variation also gives wine producers a wide choice as to where to locate their vineyards.
While general climatic patterns play out across the country, within these macroclimates there are a series of more subtle variations that contribute to local terroirs.
Slovenia has three main wine regions: Podravje in the east, Primorska in the west and Posavje just south of the centre.
Podravje is the engine room of the Slovenian wine industry, producing about half of the country's national output. Its densest vineyards are located around the eastern city of Maribor, in the valleys of the Pesnica, Drava and Mura rivers.
White Riesling is a grape variety that originated in France (Alsace). It produces a variety of grape specially used for the elaboration of wine. It is rare to find this grape to eat on our tables. This variety of grape is characterized by small bunches, and small grapes. White Riesling can be found in many vineyards: Alsace, Loire Valley, Languedoc & Roussillon, Lorraine, Provence & Corsica, Rhone Valley, Savoie & Bugey, Beaujolais, South West.
white wines from the region of Slovenia go well with generally quite well with dishes of rich fish (salmon, tuna etc), spicy food or sweet desserts such as recipes of baked salmon mediterranean style, pastilla with chicken (moroccan pie with brick sheets) or plain cupcakes.
On the nose in the region of Slovenia often reveals types of flavors of earth, tree fruit or citrus fruit and sometimes also flavors of vegetal.
In the last board meeting of 2021 for the regulatory council of DO Terra Alta, in Catalunya, Spain, a long list of changes was approved. The most prominent was the making of a very strict certification system for wines that are 100% Garnatxa Blanca given that it’s their flagship grape variety. But perhaps the most interesting item is a bit further down the list that allows certification for a type of wines that in Catalan are called “vins brisats”. The name refers to white wine ...
I first contributed to Decanter back in November 1988; the hundreds of columns and articles I’ve written since constitute a journey of discovery. I squirm, though, if I’m described as a ‘wine expert’. Whatever wine knowledge we acquire quickly cools, congeals and crusts over, like custard or gravy, as the years pass. The wine world expands at a clip. Every vintage rewrites history. It’s the chance to share discoveries – not just about wines, but about people, places and the act of drinking itsel ...
With more than 18,200 wines tasted by our expert judging panels and entrants spanning 56 countries, the Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) 2022 edition promises to deliver an eclectic mix of brilliant bottles to seek out – across a broad range of prices. Official results for DWWA 2022, including the winners of coveted Platinum and Best in Show medals, won’t be published until 7th of June. However, here are just a few of the styles to watch out for, based on a selection of personal highligh ...
