The Republic of Slovenia (Slovenija in Slovenian) with its capital Ljubljana covers an area of 20,273 square kilometres. The country borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the east and Croatia to the south-east. After the end of the Second World War in 1945, Slovenia existed as a constituent republic of socialist Yugoslavia. Following the declaration of independence in 1991 and the 10-day war, Slovenia became an independent nation state.
The first vines were planted by the Celts around 2,400 years ago. The Romans influenced viticulture, particularly in the Poetovium region (Ptuj = Pettau). The Roman wine writer Pliny the Elder (23-79) mentioned viticulture in the Karst region and described these wines as the elixir of life. Viticulture came to a standstill again during the Migration Period. But in the Middle Ages, the wines were highly prized at the courts of imperial Vienna and archbishopric Salzburg. The Austrian Archduke Johann (1782-1859) owned a model vineyard near Maribor (Marburg). The influences of the region's long historical affiliation with Austria-Hungary can still be felt today. As in most European countries, large areas of vineyards fell victim to phylloxera in the second half of the 19th century.
The climatic conditions are characterised by Alpine, continental and Mediterranean climates. Short, heavy downpours in spring are followed by a warm summer and a long, mostly sunny autumn, which enables a late grape harvest and thus also ripe Prädikat wines. The soils are characterised by great diversity (see under the wine-growing regions).
The wine-growing areas lie to the north on the border with Austria (South Styria), to the east with Hungary and to the west with the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Around three quarters of production is accounted for by white wines and around one quarter by red wines. The Movia winery is a model and pioneer. There are many small winegrowers with tiny plots. Slovenia is divided into three large wine-growing regions with 14 protected wine-growing areas.
Is divided into two areas:
Stajerska Slovenija (Slovenian Styria) with 8,685 ha
Prekmurje with 965 ha
In 2022, the vineyards covered 14,789 hectares and the wine production volume was 546,000 hectolitres. The grape variety index (Kym Anderson statistics):
Grape variety |
Synonyms in Slovenia |
Colour |
Hectare |
Welschriesling | Laski Rizling | white | 1.935 |
Terrano / Refosco | Refošk, Refosco d'Istria | red | 1.340 |
Chardonnay | - | white | 1.181 |
Sauvignon Blanc | Muškatni Silvanec | white | 1.121 |
Malvazija Istarska | Istrska Malvazija, Polijsakica Drnovk | white | 915 |
Žametovka | Kavcina Crna | red | 822 |
Merlot | - | red | 817 |
Blaufränkisch | Frankovna Crna | red | 709 |
Riesling | Renski Rizling | white | 607 |
Ribolla Gialla | Rebula | white | 597 |
Muscat Blanc | Rumeni Muscat | white | 586 |
Furmint | Šipon | white | 546 |
Pinot Gris | Sivi Pinot | white | 508 |
Pinot Blanc | Beli Pinot, Beli Burgundec | white | 424 |
Cabernet Sauvignon | - | red | 423 |
Sauvignonasse | Zeleni Sauvignon | white | 231 |
Savagnin Blanc | - | white | 209 |
Pinot Noir | - | red | 202 |
Kraljevina | - | white | 199 |
Müller-Thurgau | Rizvanec | white | 128 |
Kerner | - | white | 111 |
Barbera | - | red | 98 |
Muscat Ottonel | white | 98 | |
Plavec Žuti | Rumeni Plavec | white | 82 |
Silvaner | - | white | 81 |
Blauer Portugieser | - | red | 80 |
Zelen | - | white | 75 |
Pinella | - | white | 61 |
Vitovska Grganja | Vitouska | white | 51 |
Cabernet Franc | - | red | 27 |
Syrah | - | red | 18 |
St Laurent | - | red | 6 |
Zweigelt | - | red | 5 |
Gamay | - | r0t | 4 |
As in Austria and Germany, these are based on the must weight of the grapes. The label must indicate the number of bottles or litres produced. The sweetness levels are suho (dry), polsuho (semi-dry), polsladko (semi-sweet) and sladko (sweet). In August 2009, the EU wine market regulation came into force with fundamental changes to wine designations and quality levels. The following new designations and quality levels have been introduced (see quality system):
Wine made from fully ripe grapes, natural alcohol content max. 8.5% vol, maximum yield 120 h/ha, sensory and analytical testing required.
The use of quality wine grape varieties and specific vineyards are required, fully ripe grapes, natural alcohol content of 8.5% vol (9.5% vol in wine-growing zone CII), maximum yield of 80 hl/ha, sensory and analytical testing required, official tasting must achieve 16.1 out of 20 points.
This corresponds to a Prädikat wine. In addition to the basic criteria, the following conditions apply Declared grape harvest, no enrichment and no additives permitted, no deacidification. At least 18.1 out of 20 points must be achieved in official tastings. Additional designations/wine types listed:
Wines produced according to traditional methods with protection of geographical origin. There are only four of these: Belokranjec, Cviček, Kras Teran and Metliska Crnina.
Map of Slovenia: © Goruma
Flag: by User:Achim1999, Public domain, Link
Coat of arms: by Achim1999, Public domain, Link
Map of wine-growing regions: By Agne27 from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, link edited by Norbert F. J. Tischelmayer - May 2019
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Thorsten Rahn
Restaurantleiter, Sommelier, Weindozent und Autor; Dresden