Activity Review: Bdra, Slovenia Wine Tour
Since our trip to Slovenia last year, we have been wanting to go back and explore the country’s red wine region, Bdra, in the southwest region near Italy! Because it requires a car and there are no major cities nearby, wine tours are very difficult to find so we opted for a self guided trip!
Wine Research
Because we know little to nothing about Slovenian wine, we researched in the only way we knew how - google! I was able to find a few great blogs, both here and here, and that helped narrow down the area. From there, I found an amazing little bed and breakfast that also was a winery!
Because we had possibly two days in Bdra, I cast a wide net and emailed at least 10 different wineries. Out of the 10, about 5 responded with various times and prices. Ultimately, we chose the ones that fit our schedule and that looked nice!
Cool at Carga
Sitting on top of a hill, Carga is family run winery since 1767. Their wine has won a few awards including Best Bubbly!
The Carga History
For our first stop, we visited the majestic Carga winery that sits on top of a beautiful hill. Instantly, we loved the old winery and beautiful estate. The owner met us in the vineyard and explained Carga is not the only one on a hill. Bdra means hills in Slovenian! Thus, we better get use to the hills!
Within the estate, the vineyards are 25 hectares or about 10 square miles. While their primary business is wine, they also have a sizeable farm and everything is made from the land. Their traditional ways extend to their wine making as well!
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I spy sentiments! -
Barrels on barrels!
Because of the family run business, they only produce about 25,000-40,000 bottles a year. Due to the varieties, they continually bottle throughout the year. The owner said they had bottled at least 7 times already this year!
The Grape
In Bdra, there are three native white grape varieties - rebula, tokaj, and Malvasia. These grape varieties are only found in this area of Slovenia and represent the unique soil and earth composition. Not withstanding the whites, they also produce the usual red wines such as cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc. More importantly, they won the best bubbly award for their prosecco a few years ago!
Wine Tasting
For our first tasting of the day, we would try five wines - prosecco, sparkling rose, the vintage red blend, matzinjna, and rebula. Each of them was really tasty! In the end, we purchased three bottles for 30 euros! In my opinion, it was a HUGE steal considering the tasting was going to be 20 per person. Either way, we made out like a bandit! We purchased the following:
- Sparkling rose
- Vintage red blend
- Matzinjna
Sleepy Sibav
For our hotel, we were staying at the cozy Sibav Farmhouse B&B. It is a lovely vineyard with an awesome space. Because we had an awkward three people, we had a family sized room. MF and I had the bottom stairs bedroom while Daniel had the loft! Inside the mini fridge, they offered their local wine! How neat!!
Because we had some time to kill, Daniel and I went on a brief 15 minute “hike” through the vineyards. This area is absolutely stunning! Unlike Tuscany or other wine areas, I can confidently say we were one of the few people in this region! Sadly, we had to go to our next tasting, but we knew that we would be back at 7pm for our final tasting and a light dinner!
Moving Movia
Throughout my online research, supposedly Movia is the best Bdra wine - or at least the most well known! Oops - I mean the Russians we met told us this fun fact!
Background
Dating to the 1700s, the magnificent wine estate has been producing high quality wine. In 1822, it was passed to the current family who still owns and operates the vineyards. Even today, the hard work has been passed from father to son as they transition to the next generation. Surprisingly, we could see Italy from their patio and they mentioned that several of their vineyards are actually in Italy rather than Bdra!
Unlike Sibav and Carga, this winery is a well oiled corporate machine! They have been producing a lot of wine and have been well recognized for it throughout the world! Comparatively, Movia had many steel and wooden barrels!
The Experience
Luckily, us three Americans visited the gorgeous estate at the same time as a group of Russians. Normally, this would be a little strange as we wouldn’t be treated the same, but it actually worked out really well! In their group, they had a sommelier and he said Movia is one of his favorite wines in his Moscow restaurant! Turns out we hit the jackpot!
Throughout the tasting, we often found ourselves staring at the amazing views of Slovenia and Italy. The patio overlooks many vineyards and hills! More importantly, Movia had a one year old puppy that was allowed to hang with us.
After hanging out on the patio, we went for an exclusive all access tour! Apparently, this doesn’t usually happen but it was a special occasion because of the Russian sommelier in town! Who knew?! By far, my favorite rooms were the cellars. The tasting cellar was beautiful decorated and had so many bottles along the walls! Next, the family cellar had wines dating back to the 1980s! I even found a bottle from my birth year!
The Tasting
Perhaps one of the best features of the Movia tasting is I am not sure when it really started and definitely did not want it to end! Thankfully, I took pictures of our wine bottles and I can count at least 4 different tastings!
- Puro Sparkling
- Puro Rose
- Rebula
- Pinot Noir
Not only did we taste fine aged wine, but I should mention we tasted the currently being aged wine still in the barrel during our tour. While this is a taste that I am not sure if I want to repeat, it was still a really cool experience! They used a syringe to get the wine from the barrel and then we tasted! Next, we tried wine fresh from the squeezing and I wish it tasted like sugary grape juice but it was very different!
In the end, we purchased the following:
- Pinot Noir
- Merlot
- Rebula
A Movia Sunset
Sadly, our Movia wine experience ended had to come to an end. While our Russian friends booked a fine dinner, we had to survive on the endless meat and cheese plates that were served on the patio! Plus, once the sunset, we wanted to get inside and perhaps eat something more substantial! The sun setting over the majestic Brda hills was something I won’t forget!
Great Ending at Sibav
Thankfully, our hosts were still awake and still willing to host us! They were impressed that we were able to get a tasting there as the winery has become quite exclusive recently! Although we did not need any more wine or certainly not a full wine tasting, our hostess prepared a full election for us even at 8:30pm!
- Aurora Rdece
- Beli Pinot
- Tajo
- Rebula
As we checked out the next morning, we purchased the following:
- Tajo
- Jakob
- Rebula
Throughout the tasting, our hostess would quiz us on the US and UK current events and give her point of view. It was very interesting at times even if we did not really want to talk politics! Regardless, we had a fantastic time chatting and enjoying each other’s company! What a great ending at Sibav!
The UnChartered Summary
- For stunning views and great wine, I would highly recommend Movia. They even offer a dinner package if you book way in advance.
- However, while the views and wine are first class, it also means it is definitely more expensive than the surrounding wineries. While the prices can be worth it, the other wineries are often MUCH cheaper as they only sell domestically and don’t have as much overhead.
- Carga and Sibav are great examples of a small, family run yet only sold domestically. While this lowers their costs, the wine is just as good!
- While we do not support drinking and driving, we found it very possible to go to these wineries and drive back. Not only are the roads quiet, but these wineries are often less than a 5 minute drive from each other!
- Finally, I would highly recommend the Sibav Farmhouse! Not only are the hosts extremely kind and helpful, it is in the middle of the valley so there are plenty of non-wine activities to do!