Page 152 - Terčelj, Dušan. 2015. The Culture of Wine in Slovenia. Edited by Aleš Gačnik. University of Primorska Press, Koper.
P. 152
he Culture of Wine in Slovenia
In rural Dolenjska, Kozjansko and the Slovenske gorice area they still celebrate St. John the
Baptist (27 December), when priests bless the wine brought to church by winemakers. The
blessed wine is called St. John’s wine (Šentjanževo vino or Šentjanževec). Winemakers then
take it home and divide it among all the barrels so that the rest of their wine is also blessed.
Šentjanževec is also stored for special occasions, such as transition rituals (christening,
marriage, conscription, leaving home and death), for help in storms and serious illness.
Personal and family celebrations, as well as national, municipal and church holidays cannot
go by without toasts and the enjoyment of wine.
Celebrations are always connected with
toasts. Maribor, Veliki vrh, Ptuj, 1994, 2005,
2008. Photos: Aleš Gačnik.
Recently, two other ways of increasing consumer knowledge about wine have developed in
Slovenia: open days at wine cellars and tourist wine routes (VTC) with wine farms. These
two modern-day forms of wine promotion enable wine lovers to truly get acquainted with
wine and winemakers. There is direct contact between the winemaker and the consumer,
and wine can be bought immediately after tasting. Wine lovers and visitors can also take part
in work related to winemaking, such as grape picking, pressing, or the transferring of wine.
On wine routes it is possible to enjoy regional gastronomy, participate in various cultural,
educational, recreational and sports activities, and go on excursions and treks. Farm tourism
should become a more important economic activity: the home sale of produce enables farm-
ers to get a higher income and thus smaller farms threatened with collapse find it easier to
survive. Needless to say, big trade is against this as it diminishes its profits, while victuallers
148
In rural Dolenjska, Kozjansko and the Slovenske gorice area they still celebrate St. John the
Baptist (27 December), when priests bless the wine brought to church by winemakers. The
blessed wine is called St. John’s wine (Šentjanževo vino or Šentjanževec). Winemakers then
take it home and divide it among all the barrels so that the rest of their wine is also blessed.
Šentjanževec is also stored for special occasions, such as transition rituals (christening,
marriage, conscription, leaving home and death), for help in storms and serious illness.
Personal and family celebrations, as well as national, municipal and church holidays cannot
go by without toasts and the enjoyment of wine.
Celebrations are always connected with
toasts. Maribor, Veliki vrh, Ptuj, 1994, 2005,
2008. Photos: Aleš Gačnik.
Recently, two other ways of increasing consumer knowledge about wine have developed in
Slovenia: open days at wine cellars and tourist wine routes (VTC) with wine farms. These
two modern-day forms of wine promotion enable wine lovers to truly get acquainted with
wine and winemakers. There is direct contact between the winemaker and the consumer,
and wine can be bought immediately after tasting. Wine lovers and visitors can also take part
in work related to winemaking, such as grape picking, pressing, or the transferring of wine.
On wine routes it is possible to enjoy regional gastronomy, participate in various cultural,
educational, recreational and sports activities, and go on excursions and treks. Farm tourism
should become a more important economic activity: the home sale of produce enables farm-
ers to get a higher income and thus smaller farms threatened with collapse find it easier to
survive. Needless to say, big trade is against this as it diminishes its profits, while victuallers
148
