Page 203 - Terčelj, Dušan. 2015. The Culture of Wine in Slovenia. Edited by Aleš Gačnik. University of Primorska Press, Koper.
P. 203
wine trade and catering
aware of how much the wine cost. I once gave a “dry Wine cellars are an excellent medium for the
strawberry selection” wine to a good acquaintance who international promotion of Slovene oenological
likes a good dry wine with his food. When I saw him traditions and quality. Wine brings together
a month later and asked him what he thought of the researchers from Shanghai and Ptuj, 2006.
wine, he said: “Oh, we opened it at lunch, but it didn’t Photo: Aleš Gačnik.
really go with it and we didn’t know what to do with
it.” Giving an old archive wine is equally questionable,
especially if it had lost some of its quality during the
ageing process. Only a true connoisseur will be able to
properly value such a wine as he will appreciate the age,
rather than quality – for him or her, the vintage will be
more important than anything else. When in Bordeaux
I visited one of the best wine cellars, Lafitte-Rothschild,
where they have in their archive all the vintages from
1801 onwards. The vintner pointed out that two bottles
were missing for 1894. Of course I immediately asked
why. That year the Soviet president Nikita Khrushchev
was born and those two bottles were given to him on the
occasion of his visit as a special gift from France and the
town of Bordeaux. The French must have known that
the Russians had very old archive wines in Crimea that
had belonged to the Russian tsars.
As wine is also a fashionable commodity, we can give or offer a fashionable
wine only to people who would themselves choose such wines. Some fifteen
years ago, Pinot Blanc was very fashionable in Slovenia, then Chardonnay,
then Pinot Gris or Zelen and Shiraz among
the red wines. Now, wines with the aroma of
oak imitating barrique wines are all the rage.
Wine can also be a status symbol: for someone
who places great importance on clothes, labels,
cars or similar goods, an expensive wine made
by an exclusive winemaker, the vintage and
the fact that wine is not easily available on the
market are the most important criteria.
Some wine connoisseurs have private vinotekas. Wine and art at the Medana Art
More and more wine lovers are creating their II event (Ščurek), Medana, 2006.
own collections, in particular of their favourite Photo: Staša Cafuta.
wines. They collect them according to a spe-
cific principle: for example, only “predicate”
wines or wines made from particular grape
varieties, and sometimes they have no specific
system. This hobby demands special condi-
tions if you want to keep wine for more than
a few months. Wine is a living thing that is
constantly changing, which is why it needs to
199
aware of how much the wine cost. I once gave a “dry Wine cellars are an excellent medium for the
strawberry selection” wine to a good acquaintance who international promotion of Slovene oenological
likes a good dry wine with his food. When I saw him traditions and quality. Wine brings together
a month later and asked him what he thought of the researchers from Shanghai and Ptuj, 2006.
wine, he said: “Oh, we opened it at lunch, but it didn’t Photo: Aleš Gačnik.
really go with it and we didn’t know what to do with
it.” Giving an old archive wine is equally questionable,
especially if it had lost some of its quality during the
ageing process. Only a true connoisseur will be able to
properly value such a wine as he will appreciate the age,
rather than quality – for him or her, the vintage will be
more important than anything else. When in Bordeaux
I visited one of the best wine cellars, Lafitte-Rothschild,
where they have in their archive all the vintages from
1801 onwards. The vintner pointed out that two bottles
were missing for 1894. Of course I immediately asked
why. That year the Soviet president Nikita Khrushchev
was born and those two bottles were given to him on the
occasion of his visit as a special gift from France and the
town of Bordeaux. The French must have known that
the Russians had very old archive wines in Crimea that
had belonged to the Russian tsars.
As wine is also a fashionable commodity, we can give or offer a fashionable
wine only to people who would themselves choose such wines. Some fifteen
years ago, Pinot Blanc was very fashionable in Slovenia, then Chardonnay,
then Pinot Gris or Zelen and Shiraz among
the red wines. Now, wines with the aroma of
oak imitating barrique wines are all the rage.
Wine can also be a status symbol: for someone
who places great importance on clothes, labels,
cars or similar goods, an expensive wine made
by an exclusive winemaker, the vintage and
the fact that wine is not easily available on the
market are the most important criteria.
Some wine connoisseurs have private vinotekas. Wine and art at the Medana Art
More and more wine lovers are creating their II event (Ščurek), Medana, 2006.
own collections, in particular of their favourite Photo: Staša Cafuta.
wines. They collect them according to a spe-
cific principle: for example, only “predicate”
wines or wines made from particular grape
varieties, and sometimes they have no specific
system. This hobby demands special condi-
tions if you want to keep wine for more than
a few months. Wine is a living thing that is
constantly changing, which is why it needs to
199
