Brda Dok Wine Day Slovenia 2012

The International Club of Slovenia had an event planned for Brda Dok Wine Day. We met and took a bus into the wine region of Slovenia that borders Northern Italy and visited six different wineries. Since it was wine day this meant you paid 10 euros for a wine glass and then drank all the wine you wanted. By the end of the day I had tasted many great wines to the point of not wanting another sip, seen a beautiful region of the country, met many new and interesting people, ate cow tongue by mistake, and enjoyed a wonderful family style dinner of Slovenian food (and more wine!).

While I’ve not been to Tuscany yet I heard people comparing this region to it. It’s actually exactly what I was hoping for when I do get to visit parts of Italy. The land is beautiful and there is a rich sense of history, tradition, and family here. My favorite winery was the last one we visited where it felt like you were a guest in somebody’s home. In fact, I think we actually may have been in their home! All these wineries are run by families and most of them have been in the business for generations. At this particular winery children ran in and out of the celler while we were served the most amazing pršut (prosciutto) I’ve ever had in my life. Carefully hand sliced as if it were an art form to get each one paper thin and consistent all the way through. As long as you stood by the pršut it just kept ending up in your hand. And of course the wine was flowing endlessly as well. Each place was a bit different and had its own appeal. In one small village there were numerous wineries housed in storefronts. We filled our glasses and enjoyed them in the cobblestone streets and soon a group of men began singing a cappella. At another one the tables had complimentary olive oil, breadsticks, and some sort of meat that was really tasty. After eating a few pieces I learned that it was tongue! Oh well, it really was good and it didn’t stop me from having some more. One winery had an amazing view while another had to be reached by foot, where we enjoyed some cherries from the trees lining the path up.

I came home with two bottles of a sweet red dessert wine. I usually am not a fan of dessert wine but this was excellent. At the place where I bought this I actually met a guy from North Carolina who has been living in Italy for the past 10 years and now in Slovenia. He is trying to move back to the states and bring the word of Slovene wine to people. He is a distributor so if anyone reading this has connections to wine stores, restaurants, or specialty shops that you think would be interested in amazing, close to unknown Slovenian wines please let me know so I can help him out and send you his info.