by Istvan Pentek
The area provides the ideal conditions for this sort of crops; the grapevines are placed on orderly arranged terraces at the meeting point of continental and Mediterranean influences, having an ideal exposure and away from the cold air coming from the Alps, on a well drained soil with a high mineral level. In this region, the wine making is a very old work activity. The Roman emperor named this province “Vinea nobilis districtus”. In the midst of vineyards, during the period when the grapes are ripe, they use the “klopotci”, a wooden windmill invented in the 16th century, that produces a sound meant to scare the birds away.
The most frequent varieties of this area are Laški Rizling, Renski Rizling (Rin Riesling), Sivi Pinot (Pinot Gris), Beli Pinot (Pinot Blanc), Chardonnay and Šipon (Furmint).
In July, at Ljutomer, a local village, there is an unusual event: a wine festival organized together with a horror film festival. As a consequence, in July the streets of this village become jammed with all sorts of vampires and zombies who walk around carrying wine glasses. It is called the Gross- man Wine and Fantasy Film Festival and it is 3 days long.
P&F Wineries is one of the largest Slovenian wine producers; it processes the grapes coming from 1150 ha and owns the only 4-star hotel in the region: Dvorec Jeruzalem. The wine cellar investment made by Vladimir Puklavec was completed in 2009 and had cost 12 million euro. Today, the P&F wines are sold in several countries under the brands called Gomila, Ela Hill, Nebo, Jeruzalem-Ormož, and Ljutomercan.
The wines express the experience that the oenologists have learned in the new world: all white wines, regardless of their category, have a distinct expressiveness, typical flavors and a vibrant acidity.
If you have the opportunity, do not miss tasting a Sauvignon Blanc Gomila 2013, a single vineyard that has an intense citrus and elderflower smell, a refreshing taste and a spectacular and well integrated acidity or a dry gold shining Šipon 2012 (Furmint) that has a honey and white flowers smell and an intense, mineral, yet smooth flavor.
The wines can be tasted in the store that provides a lot of space and a very elegant décor. If you visit it, we recommend also seeing the old wine collections located near the sparkling wine cellar under the building. Here, you can take a look at a collection that gathers more than 250.000 wine bottles of the last 55 years` production.
