When you think of the great wine regions of the world, you think of the Rhine Valley, Bordeaux, Tuscany, and Brda… Wait a minute – Brda? Is that a typo?
Quite the opposite! Brda is an amazing wine region making a name for itself on the world scene. On Wine Revealed, we were privileged to visit this area and taste exquisite wines made with Brda’s signature grape, Rebula. Brda shares a wine region with neighboring vicinities in Italy, where Rebula is called Ribolla Gialla.
Brda is a beautiful, lush land of foothills bordered on one side by Italy, and on the other, mountains that have isolated it historically from the rest of Slovenia. Geographically, Brda sits between the Alps and the Mediterranean.
At first glance, it looks like Northern Italy, with its patchwork of vineyards spread across rolling hills that are punctuated with stone villages. In addition to grapes, Brda is an Eden for peaches, plums, figs, and pears. Long historic ties with Italy mean that most of the locals speak both Italian and Slovenian.
It was in Brda that we met Marco Skojc, the owner of Dolfo Winery. Due to political changes over the years, he, his father, and his grandfather lived in three different countries without having moved out of Brda!
Brda has in the past been part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy, Yugoslavia, and now an independent Slovenia. Despite wars, changing governments, and economic difficulties, one thing has always been true in Brda according to Skojc: the people of Brda are hard-working and industrious.
Skojc believes that the Brda region is represented by the wines, and it is important that they are top quality. He credits the local soil, a type of sandstone called ponca, which adds important mineral flavors to the wine.
The great wine regions of the world such as Rioja, Bordeaux, and Piedmont are known for unique, fine soils. Brda is beginning to be recognized as another area with just such an exceptional soil. Skojc believes their soil will eventually put them on the map in the wine world.
His own wines are starting to get more recognition, a fact which pleases him immensely. He states, “I respect the people you buy my wine, and I am very happy because the wine is going to other countries of the world… and who have my wine at home have my spirit at home…”
We also met with Isao Miyajima on our Wine Revealed travels. He is a former news correspondent turned wine expert who brings his knowledge of wines to others via a program he produces in his native Japan.
He comments that Brda has a “miraculous terroir because it has the magical combination of the warmness of the Mediterranean Sea…” combined with the mountains, and the outstanding soil that gives a minerality to the wine. It makes for an ideal winemaking region, in his opinion.
Marjan Simcic of Simcic Winery is another Slovenian winemaker that we visited on Wine Revealed (link). Under communist rule as part of the former Yugoslavia, the winery had been part of a cooperative, and the business model was completely different. The current open market and open borders now result in an upward impact on the quality and standards of wine production.
The new generations and increased interaction with the world are bringing many changes, but in this business it is important that the changes are small, cautions Simcic. Vines and vineyards do not lend themselves to rapid change, and one must work with sensibility.
In fact, it takes years of experience to get a feel for small changes that will work. Drastic changes would endanger the reputation of the wine and the characteristics people have come to expect.
Simcic always had a vision for higher quality and broader markets. Many Slovenians in the early days of independence chose to continue selling to other former Yugoslavian states.
He was a bit of a rebel to want to go outside of that traditional market. He knew that he could have made a more economical and average wine and been successful in any of the former Russian controlled countries. It was the more comfortable and familiar choice for many winemakers in the area, but he chose the more difficult route.
In the early days, he would load up his car with wine and drive it across borders and have to deal with paperwork at every border to get his wine to market in a place like Germany. His earliest markets then were Italy, Austria, and Germany.
His hard work has paid off. Being able to export to all of Europe has helped the winery prosper as compared to his father’s days. In 1992 they exported their first wine to the United States. Now his wines are sold all over the world, notably in New Zealand in Japan, and they have even won prestigious international awards.
If you are unable to make a visit to Brda, Slovenia, do the next best thing: visit a fine wine merchant in your area and head straight for the Slovenian section. Try an exquisite, crisp, Rebula, described by Andrew Jefford of Decanter as “Slovenia’s dream white.” You may be lucky enough to find a selection from Simcic or Dolfo wineries, and it might just become your new favorite!