www.slovenia.info Travel Agent´s Manual 2010

Vines have been grown in Slovenia since the time of the Illyrians and
Celts, but viticulture really began to fl ourish in the Roman era and the
Middle Ages. Over 20 wine routes lead through Slovenia's 3 wine regions,
each with its own characteristic wines. Th e wine routes link hospitable
wine cellars and farms off ering a wide variety of local specialities.
In a country where you can quench your
thirst in a stream, where healthy vegetables
grow in gardens, where old varieties of apples
still grow in orchards, where animals
graze in the open air, people are used to
eating well. And they also like to off er good
things to visitors!
Holidays and celebrations in Slovenia traditionally
revolve around gastronomic pleasures.
In some parts of the country you can
warm yourself up over a steaming pot of
bograč (a kind of goulash). Elsewhere you
can witness a competition to fi nd the best
kranjska klobasa (Carniolan sausage), take
part in a world convention of fans of sautéed
potatoes, or sample individual varieties of
genuine Slovenian wines. On holidays and
feast days, the table is always richly laden
with local specialities.
Everyday dishes, served in every farmhouse
and the better traditional inns or gostilne,
WINEGROWING REGIONS
PODRAVJE: Th e land of noble white wines
Th e winegrowing hills of eastern Slovenia
are renowned for their superior quality
white wines as well as for some red wines.
What particularly stands out is their
quality-tested wines: late harvests, selections,
Beerenauslese (BA) wines, ice wines
and Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA) wines.
Th e Wine Roads lead to wonders such as
the world’s oldest grapevine (the Old Vine
House in Maribor), one of the biggest tunnel-shaped
cellars in this part of Europe
(Vinag, Maribor), the cellar with the oldest
Slovenian archive wine from 1917 (Ptuj)
and many others.
POSAVJE: Th e land of Cviček
Th e land by the river Sava boasts Cviček –
a registered wine with character, low in alcohol
content and with a distinctive acidic
are for the most part based on beans, cabbage
and potatoes. Naturally, each one of
Slovenia’s 24 distinct gastronomic regions
prepares and seasons these dishes in its
own way. Every region of Slovenia has its
own distinctive types of bread. Th ere are
also many fl our-based dishes, notably those
made with buckwheat fl our. Slovenia boasts
70 diff erent varieties of štruklji (a kind of
strudel, usually savoury), and you must try
at least one of the versions of potica, a traditional
leavened cake stuff ed with various
herbs and other ingredients. Th e Primorska
region off ers original fi sh dishes and also
specialities based on wild plants, fruit and
vegetables (asparagus, artichokes, truffl es),
and of course Karst ham cured in the Bora.
Learn more about Slovenia’s cuisine and culinary
traditions in the electronic publication
Taste Slovenia at
www.slovenia.info/publications
taste. Th ere are many who say it has benefi -
cial eff ects on your health! In addition, the
land off ers other pleasantly light, reddish
and white wines. Visit the notable repnicas,
pits dug into quartz sand (Bizeljsko), the
cellar of sparkling wines (Istenič, Bizeljsko),
the Wine Gallery housed in the Rajhenburg
nad Brestanico Castle and other marvels!
PRIMORSKA: Th e land of Refošk, Teran
and the autochthonous specialities
Th e vineyards basking in the Mediterranean
sun produce excellent red wines, such as
Refošk, Teran, Merlot, and Cabernet. Gaining
in prominence are the characteristic old
white varieties, such as the local Rebula,
Zelen, Pinela and many others. Visit the
House of Refošk in Koper, the winegrowers
in the Goriška Brda and the Vipavska areas,
the Dobrovo castle cellar and other remarkable
features of the Wine Roads.
SLOVENIA
CULINARY
GREEN FACT
Slovenia Culinary____ 27
Th e oldest grapevine in the world has
been preserved here – a more than
400-year-old black velvet! Th rough the
three wine-growing regions of Slovenia
and their characteristic wines run more
than 20 wine roads, linking up as many
as 24 gastronomic regions!