Saturday was a big day as we incorporated two visits, a lunch and a dinner. An hour south west from Ljubljana to Vipava we found the charming Mitje Lavrencic of the Sutor winery in the village of Podnanos.
Sutor is a small, four hectare estate producing some utterly sublime wines. Mitje was a charming host as we tasted through a fabulous selection of Malvasias, Rebula/Malvasia blends, Chardonnay, oaked Sauvignon Blancs, Merlot and a Bordeaux Blend. The quality was exceptionally high and within the tasting we contrasted a warmer and cooler vintage and the effect on each wine. Mitje then surprised us with a real treat – a vintage 2000 Chardonnay that was still drinking superbly.
From Podnanos it was a 10 minute drive to the town of Vipava and lunch at the family run restaurant Gostilna Podfarovz. Dennis is a very humorous host with a nice line in English humour and his colleague presented a couple of wines from Vina Krapez – another local estate. A rich Merlot accompanied our beef fillet extremely well and a late harvest dessert merlot was a fascinating conclusion with our nut strudel – a very traditional pudding.
Despite only two courses, we were again feeling full – a case of accumulative consumption I feel. However, we perked up on our arrival at Vina Jamsek in the village of Mance.
Owners Erika and Marko hosted us with great aplomb as we tasted two new indigenous grape varieties – Zelen and Pinela. Both are crisp, fresh varietals that are indigenous to the Vipava valley. Unusually, they also produce a Barbera which was excellent and we finished off with a delightfully sweet yellow Muscat.
Our final night dinner was at Gostilna AS – one of the best restaurants in Ljubljana and we sat outside on a beautiful terrace on a warm balmy evening. A fresh tuna and wasabi starter was followed by a delicious king prawn pasta. The chef then brought out two huge flaming seabass that was then served at our table. Dessert, coffee and oceans of Malvasia made this a wonderful finish to our tour.
But there was still more! As many people were either staying on or flying back late, we decided to head for the Croatian border and Slovenia’s largest sparkling wine producer – Istenic. At 150,000 bottles production is still quite modest by most standards and they have acquired a terrific reputation. Miha and Johanes Istenic were great hosts and made us feel v
ery welcome. The quality is exceptional and we thoroughly enjoyed the tasting which comprised a Chardonnay/Pinot Noir/Rumeni Plavec blend, A 100% Pinot Noir, A Yellow Muscat and their Prestige Brut – a classic Chardonnay Pinot Noir blend. We then headed off to their Villa where a superb five course lunch was washed down with copious quantities of fizz.
It was a truly memorable end to a fantastic tour.