Goriška Brda – Slovenian Tuscany
Picturesque landscape, numerous hills, vineyards in every direction you look, small medieval villages and friendly, welcoming, talkative people everywhere you go slovenian tuscany.
You might think I am talking about Tuscany or some other place in Italy, but no, I am talking about a magical wine region in Slovenia called Goriška Brda. Goriška Brda are one of the subregions of Primorska wine region and are located in west Slovenia, just next to the border of Italy. It lays between the Adriatic Sea and the Alps. slovenian tuscany is a small country with only 2 million in population, nevertheless it is a perfect destination for every wine lover! Although Goriška Brda are the smallest subregion is Primorska, it is the area that has won the most wine awards all over the world. What it lacks in size it offers in quality. It only takes you one visit to fall in love with this beautiful region.
The name Goriška Brda comes from the name of the main city in the region
“Gorica” and brda simply means hills. Because of the hills, most vineyards are terraced. The region used to be much bigger, but it got cut in half in 20th century by a new Slovenian tuscany -Italian border. Mediterranean climate and rich, fertile soil make the region more than perfect for wine production. There are a few larger wine making estates, otherwise most of the wineries are just small family-run businesses. Consequently, they are quite busy with all the work vine-growing requires, that is why it is necessary to call a few days earlier to schedule a wine tasting. Besides excellent wine tastings, most the families also offer accommodation and gourmet experiences. You can feel Italian influence everywhere, in landscape, towns, wine and cuisine. Visiting winemakers in this region is something very unique. Usually the wine tastings are guided directly from the winemaker. Wines you try are out of this world and are most commonly accompanied by local cold cuts and cheese. Altogether leaves you with totally authentic experience.
The wines are made with a lot of effort and love, as every grape is hand-picked.
The winemakers all choose quality before quantity, due to the fact that the wine standard in this tiny country is very high. 70% of the wines from Goriška Brda are white, nevertheless this is Slovenian favorite region for every red wine enthusiast.
Besides great white wines, it offers excellent red blends. Most of this red blended wines are made by Bordeaux formula, containing merlot, cabernet sauvignon and sometimes even cabernet franc, aged in oak. Many winemakers use French oak for the barrels, some of them also use Slovenian oak. From the white wines they make some amazing ones from grapes chardonnay, pinot grigio, sauvignonasse and the most important one, rebula. Rebula or in Italian Ribolla is a local grape from
Goriška Brda and one of the most popular wines in Slovenia overall. From this grape is also made the highest graded Slovenian wine Rebula Opoka from Marjan Simčič.
You are probably wondering, how is it possible that you haven’t seen or try any of the wines from Brda before. The answer is because 93% of all the wines are consumed locally. That is why it is almost impossible to get them anywhere else.
So hurry up and book your wine tour to the wine paradise!
