Page 55 - Terčelj, Dušan. 2015. The Culture of Wine in Slovenia. Edited by Aleš Gačnik. University of Primorska Press, Koper.
P. 55
The Culture of Wine Drinking
Wine accompanies Slovenes at all of life’s most important events, not just as nourishment
during a meal and during heavy labour. I would just like to quote a fragment from Valva-
sor’s description of a wedding feast in Istra: “And thus they tackle the dishes and glasses,
drinking and eating heartily. It is required that they toast each other frequently. The bride
and groom, as well as the two witnesses, drink as much as they want, but the witnesses
must help the ‘elders’ who lead the wedding celebrations. The elder sitting at the top toasts
the one sitting at the bottom three times. When a vessel of wine is handed to the elder at
the top, he accepts it and toasts the elder at the bottom, drinks a little and hands the rest
to the elder sitting at the bottom or the family elder with this compliment: ‘I have had the
right to toast for a long time, now I leave it to the home elder’. These toasts are honorary.”13
The writer then goes on to describe how after the blessing, the bride is taken to the bride-
groom’s house, where the ritual of transition takes place: “... Soon after they go to dinner and
the elder of the house toasts the first elder, welcoming him. Then the cook shows up with
a pot full of wine, holding about a litre and a half, and she toasts the elder for the health
of his son and his bride. Everyone else has to drink a full pot to the newlyweds’ health.”14
The customs differ from one place to another,
but a toast with wine appears everywhere. Wine
has always been a social drink, accompanying
toasts. Thus it is no wonder that France Prešeren
united all these wishes in his A Toast and that
this became the Slovene national anthem. The
poem was set to music by Stanko Premrl from
Šentvid in the Vipava region and it so happens
that Matija Vertovec, the author of Vinoreja
(Winegrowing) worked in Šentvid.
Prešeren’s A Toast on the web. Slovene history over the last hundred and fifty
http://www.educa.fmf.uni-lj.si/izodel/ponudba/1996/ years has brought many changes to the way of
preseren/slike/zdravljica.jpg life and wine-drinking habits. In 1848, Slovenes
demanded a unified Slovenia. As they failed
to achieve it, the general national movement
extended into a demand for other national rights:
the official use of the Slovene language, Slovene
schools, and so on. Slovenes met at rallies, in
reading rooms and taverns, discussing their de-
mands while drinking wine. Although the rallies
finished in general merrymaking and dancing,
there was never any excessive consumption. So
how did Slovenes enjoy their wine during this
period? What were wine-drinking habits in the
second half of the 19th and the first half of the
20th century? The attitude to wine can be seen
from how it was consumed.
13 Valvasor, 1984, p.143
14 Valvasor, 1984, p.143
51
Wine accompanies Slovenes at all of life’s most important events, not just as nourishment
during a meal and during heavy labour. I would just like to quote a fragment from Valva-
sor’s description of a wedding feast in Istra: “And thus they tackle the dishes and glasses,
drinking and eating heartily. It is required that they toast each other frequently. The bride
and groom, as well as the two witnesses, drink as much as they want, but the witnesses
must help the ‘elders’ who lead the wedding celebrations. The elder sitting at the top toasts
the one sitting at the bottom three times. When a vessel of wine is handed to the elder at
the top, he accepts it and toasts the elder at the bottom, drinks a little and hands the rest
to the elder sitting at the bottom or the family elder with this compliment: ‘I have had the
right to toast for a long time, now I leave it to the home elder’. These toasts are honorary.”13
The writer then goes on to describe how after the blessing, the bride is taken to the bride-
groom’s house, where the ritual of transition takes place: “... Soon after they go to dinner and
the elder of the house toasts the first elder, welcoming him. Then the cook shows up with
a pot full of wine, holding about a litre and a half, and she toasts the elder for the health
of his son and his bride. Everyone else has to drink a full pot to the newlyweds’ health.”14
The customs differ from one place to another,
but a toast with wine appears everywhere. Wine
has always been a social drink, accompanying
toasts. Thus it is no wonder that France Prešeren
united all these wishes in his A Toast and that
this became the Slovene national anthem. The
poem was set to music by Stanko Premrl from
Šentvid in the Vipava region and it so happens
that Matija Vertovec, the author of Vinoreja
(Winegrowing) worked in Šentvid.
Prešeren’s A Toast on the web. Slovene history over the last hundred and fifty
http://www.educa.fmf.uni-lj.si/izodel/ponudba/1996/ years has brought many changes to the way of
preseren/slike/zdravljica.jpg life and wine-drinking habits. In 1848, Slovenes
demanded a unified Slovenia. As they failed
to achieve it, the general national movement
extended into a demand for other national rights:
the official use of the Slovene language, Slovene
schools, and so on. Slovenes met at rallies, in
reading rooms and taverns, discussing their de-
mands while drinking wine. Although the rallies
finished in general merrymaking and dancing,
there was never any excessive consumption. So
how did Slovenes enjoy their wine during this
period? What were wine-drinking habits in the
second half of the 19th and the first half of the
20th century? The attitude to wine can be seen
from how it was consumed.
13 Valvasor, 1984, p.143
14 Valvasor, 1984, p.143
51
