In the ever-widening world of wine, Slovenia -- the South Central European country bordered
by Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia -- is emerging as a promising new producer with an
idiosyncratic personality. A generation of post-Yugoslav era vintners is reclaiming a lost
tradition of family winemaking, and they're getting more of their wines into the hands of
American wine lovers.
In the last year, Slovenian varietals -- Refosk (Refosco), Sauvignon Blanc, Ribolla Gialla, Pinot
Gris, Malvasia, and an indigenous grape called Pinela -- along with a few blends, have turned
up.
Wine importer Emil Gaspari is responsible for bringing several Slovenian producers to the U.S.
A Slovenian who immigrated to the U.S. in the 1960s, he began importing the wines in 2001.
"You have to get people to taste the wines before they'll talk to you," Gaspari says. "Not many
Americans know where Slovenia is, much less the story of the wines. It's a new region to
explore -- a discovery wine, an adventure."
Movia wines are the best-known and most widely available in the American market.
"There are strong parallels between Slovenia and Burgundy," says London-based wine expert
Jancis Robinson. Fresh from her first trip to Slovenia, Robinson is optimistic about the potential
of Slovenian wines. "This is a land of small domains run by youngish, determined winemakers
who also tend their vines themselves."
"They are quite anarchic and individual in their use of oak and, to my mind, are making more
distinctive wines than most of their neighbors in Italy's Friuli."
Pieter Verheyde, head sommelier at Bastide restaurant in West Hollywood, Calif., discovered
Slovenian wines in 2001 while working at New York's Alain Ducasse restaurant. He was so
enthusiastic about the wines that he returned to his home country of Belgium and began
importing them there. When Verheyde overhauled the wine list at Bastide last year, he took the
unconventional step of giving Slovenia a small section of its own.
At a coffee shop in West Hollywood, Verheyde spread a map of Slovenia across a table to
provide a quick tutorial on the country's three wine regions. The best-known region is
Primorska, along the western edge of the country, abutting Italy and the Adriatic Sea. Brda,
known as Collio in Italy, is a premier district within Primorska that straddles the
Italian/Slovenian border. Podravje, a northeastern continental region, is influenced by Austria,
Hungary and the Julian Alps. Posavje, the third major region, occupies the southeastern corner
closest to Croatia.
Each of these ancient wine regions has produced wine since the Roman era. Today, Slovenian
vineyards are mostly family-owned plots smaller than 12 acres. When the region emerged from
Yugoslav control in 1991, vineyard owners were released from a requirement to sell their
grapes to the local cooperative winery. Independent wineries started opening across the
country.
Few vintners produce more than 5,000 cases of wine. "It's a struggle for these winemakers,"
Verheyde says.
Outside of Slovenia, few wine enthusiasts have heard of their wines, and it is a rare producer
rich enough to invest in marketing. Add to that the weakness of the U.S. dollar against the
euro, which is squeezing profits on all European products sold in the United States, and it's
easier and more lucrative for these small vintners to sell their wines at home.
Still, Slovenian winemakers want American consumers to learn about their wines, Verheyde
says. It's a necessary step toward building an international reputation as well as an opportunity
to create interest in other aspects of the Slovenian economy, particularly tourism. Already,
"wine is bringing Americans to Slovenia," he says.
"I pair the Santomas Malvasia with a ceviche of scallops; the red Refosk [Refosco] wine goes
with dry aged beef. I have a Movia Pinot Noir I like to pair with Hawaiian sea bass," Verheyde
says.
Movia winery's owner, Ales Kristancic, is the eighth generation of his family to farm his
vineyard in Brda.
"Italy's Collio and Slovenia's Brda is one wine region. It was divided by bureaucrats after World
War II," Kristancic says. Many local producers, including Kristancic, have vineyard plots on
both sides of the border. It's confusing for consumers.
"Everything -- the grapes, the region, the towns -- has two names, the Slovenian name and the
Italian name," he says.
A wine made from the grape Ribolla Gialla can be a crisp white with bracing acidity or a tannic
rose-colored wine.
Source : http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080917/LIFE/809170312 |
Klavdij Pirih is trying to be polite, but he has had enough of my notetaking and
questions. 
