Along Slovenian wine roads

Combine your visit to Slovenian natural spas with wandering along the wine roads of Slovenia. Most of them are only a short walk away. Wine cellars are celebrating the arrival of new wine in October and November, and are storing a precious wealth of past harvests in the barrels. Toast with a glass of wine and try home-made cold cuts or a stew. Take a walk through the vineyard, especially when it`s autumn-coloured. Cheers!

The most beautiful hills in Slovenia are adorned with vines. A plant that needs a lot of love and sunshine, and is growing as a tendril from the Goričko region in the north-east, through the hills of Štajerska and Dolenjska in the south, and to Primorska in the south-west. In this very arc, the riches of thermal and mineral water extend across the green country. Combine your visit to the vineyards and journeys along Slovenian wine roads with pampering in Slovenian natural spas.

Three of the Slovenian wine-growing regions, Primorska, Posavje, and Podravje, are divided into 14 wine-growing regions. Each of them has at least one wine road that connects vineyards, wine cellars and wine-growing tradition of the region.

The Podravje wine-growing region is intertwined by 7 wine roads. From the pools of thermal paraffin water at Terme Lendava venture along easternmost Lendava wine road. Locals say that the Lendavske gorice hills have the most beautiful and most carefully cultivated vineyards in Slovenia. Nearby Goričko wine road leads through the Goričko landscape park. Part of its 136 km long road goes by black thermal mineral water springs in Terme 3000 Moravske Toplice. Take a bike and ride west towards Terme Radenci. In addition to the bubbles in the Radenska mineral water, let sparkling wine of the Radgonsko-Kapelska tourist wine road dance its dance in your glass. These hills boast with the oldest “champagne” cellar in Slovenia. Sparkling wine Radgona Gold has been produced here since 1852 by the classical method. Terme Ptuj invites you to the oldest wine cellar in Slovenia and to the Jeruzalem wine road. The road winds between the terraces of the Ljutomersko-Ormoške gorice vineyards, known for centuries for its excellent white wines, which are among the world`s top wines due to their quality. The path continues to Ormož wine road, along which lots of old, wooden and thatched wine cellars are still preserved. You will see the Ptujska gora hill in the distance. There is a pilgrimage Church of the Virgin Mary on the hill, and the Haloze wine road winds up its slopes.

North of Maribor, Slovenia`s second largest city, the Pohorje hills stretch out. Relax in the Terme Zreče spa, which offers wraps and baths enriched with the Pohorje peat. The spa is an excellent starting point for exploring the Gornjeslovenjegoriška, Maribor and Podpohorska wine roads. These exceptional locations of the vineyards are known for its white wine varieties. A speciality is the red Žametovka or noble red wine, and the oldest living vine in the world growing in Maribor is of this variety.

Between the Podravje and Posavje wine-growing regions, the Šmarsko-Virštanjska wine road is located. In between slopes that surround the town of Podčetrtek, Rogaška Health Resort and a part of the Kozjansko region is the place where noble vines and beautiful buildings are growing. The Olimje monastery with its oldest pharmacy in the world is located here, just as Podsreda Castle, which is considered the most significant Romanesque castle in Slovenia. Vines and aristocratic history embrace Terme Olimia, which boasts the largest sauna world in Slovenia. Go south along the Bizeljsko-Sremič wine road, which will lead you to Terme Čatež. Kids will enjoy themselves in the largest swimming pool complex in Slovenia, while parents can taste the sweetness of predicate wines, masterfully prepared in the surrounding area. From the Gorjanci hills to Dolenjske Toplice, Podgorjanska wine road winds over the sunny hills. You can follow the road into the land of Cviček, a specialty of Dolenjska. Every wine cellar produces a different kind of Cviček, but it is always made out of 4 varieties of wine. Vines have been grown in the south-east corner of Slovenia for almost thousand years. Its tradition is preserved by Belokranjska wine road, where the red wine variety called Metliška črnina reigns.

Enjoy fruits of sea and the sun. Salt-pan mud, brine or aqua madre and a glass of fine wine are the things you will be pampered with at the Terme Strunjan spa. The beneficial effects in the regional park reach all the way to the vineyards of the Istria wine road, winding from the sea coast up to the village of Črni Kal. The whole Primorska wine-growing region draws its energy from the warm wind and the Mediterranean climate. Its influence can be felt all the way to the Brda hills, the Vipavska dolina valley, and Karst region. Ribolla or Rebula reigns along the Brda wine road and reflects the sun in gold shades. The wine is often served as an appetizer. The Vipava wine road is home to the autochthonous white wine variety called Zelen. It is named after its characteristic bright green leaves and shoots, and not after the colour of the wine, as the wine is white. The greenish wine colour usually occurs because the the wine is new. Slovenians particularly honour red wine Teran. Autochthonous red wine is produced out of Refosco grapes. Stroll around the Teran region along Karst wine road.

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