Guilty Pleasure Blog Slovenian Wine Festival 2012

Grand hotel Union, Ljubljana, Slovenia - Slovenian Wine Festival (November 22 - 23, 2012)

by stasa cafuta trcek (text and photo)

White, Rosé, Red & Orange Wines mostly from Slovenia

Slovenian Wine Festival is the event with 15 years of tradition. It’s not the biggest (VinDel in Maribor is larger), but it’s, some say, the most important wine event, because its home is Ljubljana, Slovenian capital. Its head position attracts visitors from A to Z, professionals to wine lovers. Again there was a chance to taste and explore what Slovenian winemakers (and a just a few foreign winemakers) have to show. And no doubt, Slovenia is wine destination with a range of flavours, from young & fresh, to mature & serious. From white, rose, red & orange. All together 89 wineries & 350 wines.

p.s. Beside tastings, there was workshop called The luxury of Orange Dimension, hosted by Isabelle Legeron, MW. The most widespread production of Orange wines in the world are in 1. Georgia, 2. France – Jurra and in the 3rd place is Veneto (Italy – Slovenes abroad) and in Slovenia - Primorska wine region. So, no wonder, why that kind of topic is so “in” these days. We were able to taste 10 orange wines, out of 25 evaluated. Beside to get to know more about this (long) macerated white wines, which are usually environmentally friendly produced, there were declared the “best orange wine” of the evaluation: Cuvée Ana 2007 (75% Chardonnay & Sauvignonasse, Pinela, Malvazija and Rebula), dry, Valter Mlečnik, Vipavska dolina, Primorska.

My TOP

    • “S70” 2008, cuvée (Chardonnay & Rebula), 13%, dry, Primosic, Oslavje, Italy (not bottled yet)

    • Cabernet Sauvignon 2009, 14%, dry, Kmetija Bizjak, Vipavska dolina, Primorska wine region

    • Rose 2012, 13,5%, dry, Posestvo Štokelj, Vipavska dolina, Primorska wine region

    • Malvazija 2009, 14%, dry, Edi Simčič, Goriška Brda, Primorska wine region

    • Sauvignonase 2011, 12,5%, dry, Kmetija Kocijančič Zanut, Goriška Brda, Primorska wine region

    • Pinot Grigio (sivi pinot) 2009, 13%, dry, Vina Joannes, Štajerska Slovenia,Wine Region Podravje

Highest rated wines - festival evaluation

    • Sparkling wine: Zlata radgonska penina, 160 let, extra dry, Radgonske gorice, Podravje, Štajerska Slovenija

    • Young wine: Malvazija 2011, dry,Vinakoper, Primorje, Slovenska Istra,

    • White, dry wine: Pullus zvrst (cuvee) 2009, Ptujska klet, Podravje, Štajerska Slovenija

    • Red, dry wine: Marques de Casa Concha, cabernet sauvignon 2010, Pernod Ricard Slovenija, Čhile

    • Wine with residual sugar: Kolednik Welsh riesling (laški rizling), ice wine, 2009, Kmetijska zadruga Metlika, Posavje, Bela Krajina

More: www.slovenskifestivalvin.si; www.festivalkulinarike.si