20 editor-picked estates growing Chardonnay in Brda.
Where to taste Chardonnay in Brda: the estates that grow it, how the region expresses the grape, and how to book a visit.
Kristančič family cellar at Ceglo with 25 hectares of vineyard straddling the Slovenian and Italian border, organic certified since 2004, fermented without added yeast and bottled unfiltered.
Tip: Tastings are by appointment: five wines at 40 euros a head or nine at 55 euros, both opening with the Puro sparkling.
Fifth-generation cellar above Medana working cru parcels the family has held since 1860. Marjan Simčič made his first vintage in 1988 and added the Opoka single-vineyard line in 2008.
Tip: The Opoka bottlings are named for the marl the vines sit on. Medana Jama is the Rebula parcel, planted between 37 and 73 years ago.
Family cellar at Vipolže that began bottling in 1989 with 3,000 bottles and now fills about 60,000. Three tiers run Klasik, Lex and Kolos, plus single-vineyard wines from Kozana and Fojana.
Tip: Ask for the Single Vineyard wines, named after the specific parcels in Kozana and Fojana rather than the grape.
Plešivo cellar the Ščurek family traces to 1823, with a tasting room hung as a picture gallery. The range runs from the Rebula-based Up to the Stara Brajda old-vineyard blends and a Pikolit.
Tip: The cellar opens Wednesday to Friday from 14:00 and Saturday from 10:00, and is closed Sunday to Tuesday.
Medana estate running an inn and an organic cellar on the same site since 1918. The wines are long skin-contact whites, among them Ortodox, Quela and a bottling of the local Verduc.
Tip: The kitchen keeps unusual hours: open Monday and Saturday midday, closed Tuesday to Thursday, dinner Friday and Saturday.
Šlovrenc estate where the whites take 7 to 60 days on skins and then two to three years in 225 litre French oak. The Amfora blends Rebula, Malvazija and Sauvignonasse.
Tip: Restaurant and rooms share the estate. Dinner runs Tuesday to Saturday from 18:30, with a Saturday lunch service, and booking is required.
Ceglo estate farming 14 hectares and releasing about 55,000 bottles a year. Marko Skočaj took over in 1986 and put the Dolfo label, his grandfather's name, on the first bottles in 1989.
Tip: The cellar was built with its own tasting room, so visits happen where the wine is made rather than in a separate shop.
Medana cellar that first bottled in 1989 and adopted the peacock label a year later. The range splits into Classic, Pavó, Artwork and Curioso lines across seven Classic wines.
Tip: The estate lists three Decanter World Wine Awards medals for its Chardonnay: silver for 2013 and 2011 and bronze for 2009.
The Dobrovo cooperative cellar, built in 1957 and owned outright by its members. It works 1,400 hectares of vineyard for 400 grower families and ships to 26 countries.
Tip: A self-guided tasting of 24 samples costs 20 euros and runs weekday afternoons at 13:00 or 14:30, with a guided cellar walk at 14:30.
Biljana house that makes only traditional-method sparkling wine, from Cuvée Prestige and Brut Zero through Blanc de Blancs and Blanc de Noirs to the long-aged Status.
Tip: Guided cellar visits with a tasting run on Saturdays at 11:00 and 15:00 and take in two cellars; weekday tastings need arranging first.
Plešivo family farm working nine hectares on both sides of the border, with spontaneous ferments and macerations and a stated focus on Rebula, Sauvignonasse and Malvazija.
Tip: The tasting room seats twelve indoors and ten outside, so groups need to call ahead rather than turn up.
Kozana cellar with organic growing and two guest rooms, looking north across the hills from Gredič to Šmartno. Tastings run at five or ten wines with local snacks.
Tip: Only two double rooms, with a two-night minimum from May to September, so book well before harvest season.
Vipolže farm that dates its winegrowing to 1923, when Valentin Keber and Andrej Benedetič bought the Brgolišče plot. Ten hectares now sit across twelve separate sites.
Tip: Cherries and olive oil are sold alongside the wine, and the tasting hall looks straight out over the hills.
Biljana family cellar keeping whites in stainless steel and reds a year in wood, plus a traditional-method sparkling called Marcus made from Chardonnay.
Tip: The tasting room seats sixty indoors and thirty outside, and the cellar also runs a shop for buying by the bottle.
Klet Brda's historic cellar inside Dobrovo Castle, with a tasting room for groups of four to ten and four ranges poured: de Baguer, A Plus, Single Vineyard and the Virgo sparkling.
Tip: Bookings go through [email protected] and the tasting runs in Slovenian or English.
The Ščurek family pour in a room hung with the paintings commissioned for their labels, working through the Up, Stara Brajda and Pikolit bottlings alongside a cellar walk.
Tip: Open Wednesday to Friday from 14:00 and Saturday from 10:00, closed Sunday to Tuesday, so plan mid-week afternoons.
Miran and Petra Sirk show two cellars and pour their traditional-method sparkling range, from Brut Zero and Blanc de Blancs through to the long-aged Status.
Tip: Saturday visits leave at 11:00 and 15:00; any other day has to be arranged in advance.
Tastings at the Kristančič family cellar on the border ridge at Ceglo, poured with house salami or prosciutto, cheese and olives. Booking is compulsory.
Tip: Tasting lunches and dinners with a cellar tour can be arranged separately, and bottles can be bought during the tasting.
Marko Skočaj built a tasting room into the new Dolfo cellar at Ceglo, so visits happen beside the tanks rather than in a separate shop.
Tip: The Dolfo name comes from Skočaj's grandfather, who gave it to the label when bottling started in 1989.
Small room at the Blažič farm on the border at Plešivo, pouring the spontaneously fermented and macerated whites built on Rebula, Sauvignonasse and Malvazija.
Tip: Twelve seats indoors and ten outside, so groups have to call ahead rather than turn up.