The season of wine and culinary festivals

After the Kurents, costumed carnival characters, successfully chased away winter at this year`s carnivals all over Slovenia, the spring brings a new season of numerous wine and culinary festivals to this green country. Feel joy all over the country and toast to new adventures in Slovenia!

This year’s ninth wine and culinary festival, Tastes of the Vipava Valley, which will take place at the idyllic Zemono Castle in the Vipava Valley on 10 and 11 May, will offer delicacies from the local winemakers, farmers and boutique wine producers. The two-day festival, which hosts selected wine producers in the heart of the Goriška region, will offer many wines of high quality. The Vipava Valley wines, which are a bit less known than those from the Brda area, are even considered a hidden pearl by some wine experts. The indigenous zelen variety is most closely related to the Slovenian identity, its name derives from the famous Slovenian green colour, which is an indispensable part of the tourist identity of Slovenia. Only a few days after the Tastes of the Vipavska Valley festival, lovers of the local wine refošk can attend the Refošk Festival in the warm-hearted village of Merezige. This festival has been taking place in Primorska since 1972 and it is deemed to be a festival of all wine growers from the entire region. In evaluating the wines, the best refošk and malvasia wines are selected, which are served during the festival with typical local cuisine. An important part of the festival, which has been attracting more visitors every year, is also expert appraisal of bottled wine. The festival has developed into a great holiday of wine growers and of lovers of these precious drops over the last four decades, where particular emphasis is placed on the quality of the wines, the presentation of wine culture, and the ethnological and cultural heritage of the Istrian countryside.

And while excellent wine is produced in the Vipava and Primorska areas, the quality of wines does not lag behind in the Dolenjska region. Every year at the end of May, a special seven-day festival is organised. Ancient Konstanjevica na Krki and Novo Mesto have been hosting Cviček Week for many years, and this year it will be organised for the 43rd time in a row, starting again with a traditional procession. Female and male wine growers, Cviček Princesses, Cviček Kings and Ambassadors, sommeliers and other guests participate in this procession, while professional, entertaining and recreational events attract numerous friends of wine and Dolenjska.

The 9th Šempas Wine Festival, taking place between 12 and 13 April, will be added to this year’s wine festival-rich atmosphere, the organisers have named it the Precious Heritage of Slovenia, gathering together domestic, domesticated and indigenous varieties. Its intention is to develop the culture of wine drinking and to preserve our precious viniculture heritage. On 9 May, a Wine and Chocolate Festival in Podčetrtek will be organised for the first time, on 27 June, the 8th Wine and Culinary Festival will be organised in Filovci, where the best wine products and culinary specialties will be presented in connection with the cultural heritage of pottery, while between 14 and 19 July, the 11th Grossman Festival of Fantastic Film and Wine is due to take place in Ljutomer for all lovers of wine and film.

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