I wish I had time to taste more Slovenian wines. I appreciate the beauty of the country, the vineyards and the producers. This year we only tasted a few producers’ wines but we discovered some excellent ones, nearly all from Simcic.
The tiny country of a few million people is only about the size of Rhode Island. Vineyards account for a small percentage of the surface (about 20,000 hectares) with Brda being the best area. It borders Northeastern Italy’s Friuli area. Brda accounts for 2,300 hectares of the 3,000 hectares of Collio. Slovenian winemakers say they have the best terroirs and microclimates.
Brda also has a high percentage of organic and biodynamic vineyards as well as low intervention and natural winemakers. I am a fan of Kabaj and Movia, but I haven’t tasted them yet this year. Stekar was in this tasting but most of the wines were too funky to receive outstanding ratings. Simcic was much more modern and precise with bold, ultra-clean, and stylish wines. I like the fact the the family is moving away from slightly overly extracted wines to more balanced ones.
See our tasting notes below.
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- The Simcic vineyards in Brda, Slovenia. Picture from simcic.si.
