Vintage Slovenian Sparkling Wine

How does a country 12 times smaller than the United Kingdom and containing only 1.37% of the population have a Sparkling Wine industry dating back centuries and yet only now making waves in the UK market?

After the successful launch of Radgonske Gorice’s Untouched by Light Sparkling Wine, which has been harvested, produced, bottled, then enjoyed in complete darkness at the Glass of Bubbly Show in April at the Savoy Hotel, could this be the very bottle that gets Slovenia more widely known in the UK?

Other than big producers, Slovenia has lots of smaller family producers, fighting for your attention, there are over 28,000 wineries in Slovenia and it’s claimed that there is approximately one vineyard for every 75 people in  Slovenia. These wineries both big and small, all produce Wine or Sparkling Wine, most of which is enjoyed in the country, but Slovenia is slowly expanding their export market, not because they want to do it slowly, but because they still have years of marketing ahead of them.

Slovenia is a country that not a lot of people can point to on a map and even fewer people know that they produce Sparkling Wine. The country sits next to the likes of Italy and Croatia, two phenomenal wine-growing countries, so Slovenia has a great geographical location to produce Sparkling Wine.

Slovenia is also home to the world’s oldest vine which is located in Maribor and dates back over 400 years.

A Vintage Sparkling Wine is the same for any country, the winery sees exemplary quality in the grapes grown that year and decides they only need to use those grapes, creating a vintage. When you enjoy a Vintage Sparkling Wine, you know that only grapes grown in the mentioned year were used in that bottle, no extra wine from previous years is added, which is what happens in non-vintage bottles.

Slovenia has some fantastic Vintage Sparkling Wines, including white, rosé and red, I have 4 of them in front of me right now, from the following vintage years, 2015 – 2016 – 2017 -2018.

Radgonske Gorice is the oldest Sparkling Wine producer in Slovenia, they started 170 years ago in 1852, they produce 4,500,000 litres of wine every year, with a production that high, it makes sense that Radgonske Gorice is the largest producer of Sparkling Wine in Slovenia.

Radgonske Gorice – Zlata Penina Brut Nature 2015 – Tasting Notes

Aroma 👃 “A lovely yellow expression of yellow floral, yellow fruits and delicate yellow citrus aromas.”

Flavour 👅 “Silky, smooth, delicate flavours of yellow floral, yellow blossom, yellow fruits with hints of pastry on the palate.”

Silver Medal Winner in the Pastries Delight Category at the Glass of Bubbly Awards 2021

Jožef Frelih is the man who created Frelih, the Slovenian Winery with a label you won’t soon forget, it all began in 1892 when he moved to Šentrupert in Slovenia, they offer award winning Sparkling Wines.

Vinska klet Frelih – Echo Penina 2016 – Tasting Notes

Aroma 👃 “It’s like sticking your nose into a creamy pastry delight, decorated with raspberries and strawberries.”

Flavour 👅 “Very similar to the aroma, sweet creamy pastry, a mixture of ripe and unripe raspberries and strawberries on the palate.”

The Sparkling Wine matches the colour of the label on Frelih, a wonderful innovative design.

Gold Medal Winner in the Summer Days Category at the Glass of Bubbly Awards 2021

The name Vipava 1894 comes from the fact that this Slovenian Sparkling Wine is made in the picturesque Vipava Valley and that the Vipava wine cellar was built in 1894.

In 2017 Vipava gave over the reins of their cellar to the current winemaker Hannes Sabathi, originally from Styria, Austria who now creates Vipava’s Wines and Sparkling Wines.

Vipava 1894 – Penina Zelen 2017 – Tasting Notes

Aroma 👃 “A mature expression of tropical burst, dried pineapple, coconut, cashew and apricot aromas.”

Flavour 👅 “Similar to the aroma, with floral notes, yellow fruits, tropical notes, dried pineapple, coconut, nutty, pecan, walnuts and more on the palate.”

Silver Medal Winner in the Tropical Burst Category at the Glass of Bubbly Awards 2021

Located in the western part of Kras, Slovenia, Čotar started building their cellar in 1974, they now ferment their wines underground in barrels ranging from 200 to 2000 litres. They own 7.5 hectares of vineyard, with 6,000 vines planted in each hectare.

Vina Čotar – Bela 2018 – Tasting Notes

Aroma 👃 “A perfect example of a Forget Me Not Sparkling Wine, a lovely wide array of dried flowers, orange pulp and herbs on the aroma.”

Flavour 👅 “This is an experience that starts with dried floral notes, switches to zesty lemon/orange pulp, then goes through a yeasty and biscuit flavour, finishing with a sweet taste.”

Silver Medal Winner in the Forget Me Not Category at the Glass of Bubbly Awards 2021

4 Slovenian Vintage Sparkling Wines, from 4 different Slovenian Wineries, the quality got better and better with each new bottle we opened, if we showed this line up to anyone interested in Slovenian Sparkling Wine, they would be blown away with the quality and variety of Slovenian Fizz.

Image Credit: Slovenia

The population of Slovenia is 2.1 million, compared to the UK which is 67 million, the country is 8.32% the size of the United Kingdom.