Martinovanje

Ariane Goerke, young German entrepreneur discovering innovative Slovenian tourism

Last weekend some friends and me went to Nova Gorica and nearby Goriška Brda. "Brda" means hills in English and the region is situated in western Slovenia near Italy. Again, I was astonished about another area I've never heard of before: with beautiful vineyards, medieval villages and many kaki trees - its fruits also ripen around St. Martin's Day. 

Nova Gorica I didn't really like so much. The town was buiIt in 1948 after a newly established border between Yugoslavia and Italy. If you like casinos and an average "American style" town, it  might be something for you. The old town (Stara Gorica) is nicer, but now lies behind the border in Italy. 

The events organized around St. Martin's Day (so-called martinovanje) in Slovenia celebrate the time when grape must turn into young wine and are getting livelier every year. Not only in Goriška Brda, but also in one of the other 13 wine regions such as Slovenian Istria, Karst, Vipava Valley, Dolenjska, Prekmurje and Štajerska/Steiermark.

Back to Goriška Brda: 

It's a picturesque area with around 80 different wine-growing estates. No offense, but it is more developed for tourism than the wine region in northern Portugal which I visited 2 years ago. There are signs everywhere leading you along "vinska cesta" (wine road) and many "kmetijas" (farms) have a restaurant and on average five guest rooms (Bed & Breakfast). 

I had a meeting with Jure Štekar at Vina Štekar in Kojsko. They produce ecological wines and offer home-made food in their restaurant. You can also stay in one of their four cosy rooms.

Don't miss it - it is really nice and the house was renovated last year.

Or visit their website for more information:

www.stekar.si/ in three languages 

www.vinastekar.si (wines, only Slovene language)

Jure gave as a little tour around the winery and we also tasted wine.

To be honest, I am not an expert when it comes to wine. I'll try to improve :-). But I can really recommend the following wines which I tasted in the last month and are typical for Primorska region (including Goriška Brda, Karst and Istria):

- Rebula (white wine from Goriška Brda)

- Kraški Teran (Teran from Karst region, a dark red wine)

- Refošk (Istrian red wine)

For matinovanje we went to the medieval village Šmartno and enjoyed a hearty jota (traditional soup) with white wine in a cosy gostilna (pub).

Thank you Jure for the great wine!

Don't forget to visit him at his wine farm ;-).

Na zdravje!