Discover Bjana – Discover Slovenia

A country of just 7,827 square miles, with snow peaked mountains and a warm Mediterranean coastline, only a 2.07 million population and most importantly and rightly so, the only country in the world with love in its name.

Nestled between Italy, Austria, Hungry and Croatia the country of Slovenia is rich in many things from history to the lush landscape. Though not known by many and mistaken for the likes of Slovakia despite it nearly thirty years since its independence from, along with Croatia, Yugoslavia.

Stated as being one of the friendliest and safest places in Europe to live and holiday in, Slovenia is certainly increasing as a destination spot for global tourists. More and more hotels and gastronomic locations are appearing from within Ljubljana its capital to the more rural and rich in vineyard touristic hot-spots. An international airport centrally located just 20km from Ljubljana receiving flights internationally along with two daily flights from the UK (Easy Jet) makes it an easy to access location for many.

Wine and Slovenia.

For wines, it is a country that is still rather yet to be discovered though producing some of the world’s finest examples of both traditional and Charmat method sparkling wines (plenty of still wines also). Even if it is small in size it is still very mighty when it comes to wine with around 22,300 hectares of vineyards across the country with nearly 100 million litres produced annually from 28,000 wineries.

There are three main wine growing regions in Slovenia which are:

• Primorska
• Posavje
• Podravje

The world’s oldest vine can be found in Slovenia in the city of Maribor, the 450 year old vine can be seen healthy and grape producing still outside “The old vine house” that sits beside the Drava River.

Discover Bjana – Discover Slovenia.

I am very lucky in that I have visited many wineries in Slovenia and enjoyed some amazing sparkling wines with some very fine vintages too. One of these which I have been to is the winery of Bjana which can be found in the Primorska wine region and far western side of the country, only a 4km distance away from the Italian border.

The winery enjoys influence from both the Alpine freshness on the Alps and the warmer Mediterranean Sea breeze. Its location is perfect for those doing a western European tour of wineries and especially those focused on Italy and it is only a stone’s throw over the border.

The homes for the wines of Bjana is Chateau Dorišče which dates back to 1288 and offers both a traditional and luxury setting. The chateau offers wine tourism with overnight accommodation and tastings / cellar tour available.

There are five sparkling wine labels to choose from with Brut, Brut Rosé, Cuvée Prestige, Brut Zero and the Brut Terroir with 100% Ribolla Gialla grape.

“Nature plays the leading role in our winemaking. We strive to understand its course in the vineyard and the cellar in order to make the best possible wine, one that embodies the local terroir and the full character of the varieties it is made from.”