Day 2 of our Slovenia tour, the sun shone brightly and the skies were a clear blue. This was going to be the perfect day for visiting the Podravje region of the country heading east up towards the second city of Maribor and within 500m of the Austrian border. For those that were on the Austria tour a few years back, we were literally on the other side of the hill.
This would be our longest day with a two hour drive to get to the family owned estate of Valdhuber. We were greeted by Adam Valdhuber who is the current generation running the estate and we took a leisurely walk into the vineyards. The views were mind blowingly pretty. Adam talked about passionately about the terroir, the challenges of climate change and the impact that frost and hail has had on the 2024 vintage.
The estate owns about six hectares, rents land from the Slovenian state and works with local growers to source fruit. They have ten different grape varieties planted with some vineyards over sixty years old. Moving into the tasting room with stunning views we tasted through five wines of their range. A great Pinot Blanc methode traditionelle fizz to start, Pinot Blanc, a Pinot Noir Rose and two wonderfully contrasting Sauvignon Blancs – one unoaked, the other with time in oak and acacia.
From Valdhuber it was just a 15 minute drive to one of my all time favourite locations – the Doppler estate. Pitched high on a hill, it affords even more sensational views than Valdhuber.
We were greeted by the delightful Mihaela Doppler who I have known since 2012. This year they have built a stunning new restaurant which is run by daughter Lina and her boyfriend who is a top class chef. We sat outside, under shade and revelled in the sensational vista as we waited for lunch. Mihaela gave us an insight into the family history and spoke movingly about her grandfather’s extraordinary survival of two world wars and the Dachau concentration camp.
We kicked off with a delicious sparkling Rosé, followed by the Fazan (pheasant) a blend of Laski Rizling and Furmint. This paired perfectly with a Slovenian take on Vitello Tonnato. Next up was their Cuvee – a blend of Rieslings and Sauvignon Blanc with some wood ageing. This was a great match with the ballotine of chicken with a dauphinoise potato. A Furmint followed and a Muskat Ottonel rounded off a creamy fruit dessert. Stunning food, delicious wines, utterly perfect weather and a magical setting. Not sure it gets better than this!
