http://www.ijs.si/wine_uvod.html (World Wide Web Directory, 06/1995)

Wines of Slovenia

Wine-making in Slovenia

In terms of global history of wine-making the art started early in Slovenia: archeological findings indicate that wine was already cultivated by Celtic and Ilyric tribes long before Romans came to the present winegrowing regions. But wine-making in the present area of Slovenia truly blossomed with the Romans. Tacit mentions Petovia's (todays Ptuj) wines in the 1st century AD and numerous archeological findings of amphoras, goblets and glasses give hints of a booming production and trade (e.g., this Roman bread mold, which served as the model for the registered trade mark of Slovenian wines). Wine-making almost died out in Slovenia in the 6th century AD -- as Slavs from Russian steppes migrated into the area.

The craft returned with the christianization of Slavs, but only started to flourish in the 12th century as the Hungarian tribes receded eastward and the climatically ideal areas of Styria and Prekmurje were made available for cultivation. The art of wine-making was reintroduced by monks, particularly important was the influence of Minorites in Podravska region. From the 12th century onward, the history of Slovenian wine-making remains continuous.

Today, Slovenia produces an average of 480.000 hectolitres of wine annually, on some 21.000 hectares of vineyards in three wine growing regions: Podravska, Posavska and Primorska; these are further subdivided in accordance with specifics of microclimatic conditions, soils, etc. The quality of Slovene wines is guaranteed by the large number of small producers; the outstanding quality comes in batches of 700 to 3000 bottles, lovingly prepared by vignerons with small and immaculately tended vineyards. The Slovenian Wine Growers and Producers Association imposes and enforces strict rules, governing everything from the types of grapes that may be grown in specific regions, to the methods for production of wines and labeling.

Slovenia was always the crossroads between North and South, East and West; accordingly, French, Italian and German influences are evident both in the growing and production of wines, as in terminology. Single-grape wines are predominantly named after the grape, while blended wines frequently carry the name of the producing region; the terminology for high quality and predicate wines is equivalent to German.

Slovenia lies on the Southern slopes of the Alps and touches the Mediterranean -- consequently, though it may enjoy the benefits of "the best of both worlds", Slovenian viticulture is also at the mercy of climatic unpredictabilities from both the North and the South. There are extraordinary vintages and absolute failures, with a spectrum of "in-betweens". There were seven extraordinary vintages in this century: 1917, 1942, 1947, 1952, 1958, 1971 and 1983; and 1993 promises to be another one. Since 1980, only two vintages were considered excellent or better -- the afore mentioned 1983 and the excellent 1990 --, while 1981, 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1988 are judged as very good.

The best vintages are stored in wine archives, the older ones are sold only on rare auctions; some wines from 1980 onward are still available in the archives and specialized wine shops.

miso