23 editor-picked estates growing Merlot in Brda.
Where to taste Merlot 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.
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.
Neblo farm run by Franc and Borut Kocijančič on seven hectares at 75 to 160 metres, mostly terraced. Output is about 50,000 bottles from two red and six white varieties.
Tip: The Brjač vineyard is picked last, in the final days of October, and feeds the Merlot Brjač bottling.
Cellar at Gonjače named for the owner's great-grandfather. Matjaž Četrtič began working the family vineyard in 1992 and built the house around Rebula.
Tip: Three ranges sit side by side: Klasična for varietal wines, Época for the skin-contact bottlings including Amber Gris, and Brutus for the sparkling.
Small Kozana holding that bottles wine alongside freeze-dried fruit and preserves under the Skrje and Liopicon names, and takes visitors for tastings by arrangement.
Tip: The farm sells fruit and jam as well as wine, so a tasting here usually comes with something from the orchard.
Snežatno farm-stay with an organic cellar, a kitchen built on Brda dishes and eight guest rooms named after the grape varieties grown on the property.
Tip: Both the tasting and dinner need booking in advance, and vegetarian or vegan meals can be arranged the same way.
Barbana cellar of twenty years, fully organic, making spontaneous-ferment wines alongside its own cured meats and cheeses. Katja and Matjaž Kramar are both trained painters.
Tip: The artwork can be seen Friday from 16:00, Saturday from 12:00 and Sunday midday to 16:00, and groups over eight need to arrange a slot.
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.
Former Thurn-Taxis farm at Pristavo, now the Erzetič family's, farming 15 hectares of terraced marl. The Donna Regina traditional-method sparkling has been made since 1994.
Tip: The estate dates its winegrowing to 1767 and leans on the local trio of Rebula, Sauvignonasse and Malvazija.
Kozana family cellar working with minimal intervention and no additions beyond a small sulphite dose, in two ranges called Classic and Gmajna.
Tip: Vines are cropped to around a kilogram of fruit per plant, and three tasting formats run from Classic up to Superior.
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.
Tastings at the Štekar family farm above Snežatno, poured with plates built from the kitchen garden, the house chickens and their own cured meats.
Tip: Slots run Thursday to Saturday between 16:00 and 19:00 and have to be booked ahead.
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.
Brda's main red variety in its plain varietal form, from the Gonjače cellar that Matjaž Četrtič began working in 1992.
Tip: Merlot ripens reliably on these terraces and the Klasična bottling is the region's everyday red rather than a cellar wine.