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Agroind Vipava 1894 Vinarska c. 5 5271 Vipava phone: +386 65 65-011 fax: +386 65 65-215 |
Vipava 1894 is the largest winery in the Vipava Valley, processing grapes from some one thousand hectares (2471 acres) of vineyards, three hundred of company's own and the rest cultivated by contract growers. The winery's vineyards yield an average of 2500 tons of grapes annually, and a further 9000 tons are purchased. Red and white grapes have approximately equal proportions.
Merlot has a long tradition in the Vipava Valley and is the dominant of the winery's red grapes, followed by Cabernet Sauvignon and Barbera. Modri Pinot is rather new.
Malvazija, Sauvignon, and Rebula dominate among white grapevines. Beli Pinot produces excellent wines but is somewhat less popular; other "standard" varieties include the ubiquitous Chardonnay and Laçki Rizling. The winegrowers of the Vipava Winery have devoted special effort to reestablishing the old autochthonous white wines of the area, Zelen and Pinela.
Wines are fermented and matured in two cellars. Aged and new oak barrels are used in the traditional cellar in the center of Vipava where most of their red wines originate, including barrique wines. Stainless steel vats dominate the new cellar, producing fresh white wines and some light red wines.
The average annual production of the Vipava 1894 winery is 70,000 hectoliters (1.85 million gallons). Seventeen thousand (450,000 gallons) are table wines, 35,000 hectoliters (925,000 gallons) achieve quality range, and 18,000 hectoliters (475,000 gallons) are high-quality wines. The well known white blends Vipavec and VrtovŸan comprise the majority of table and quality wines. The winery's pride are modern, fresh wines made to be consumed young: their red Cabernet Sauvignon Premiere was among the first Slovene wines to be produced using the carbon maceration method characteristic of Beaujolais Nouveau.
Their best known Merlot is grown on Biljenski GriŸi, a specific site in the western Vipava Valley. Vipava Merlot from this and other sites is a particularly suitable wine for barrique processing: Vipava Merlot Barrique has a particularly intense, almost aggressive flavour.
Cabernet Sauvignon is mostly bottled as "regular" high-quality wine and is usually somewhat lighter than the Cabernet Sauvignon from Koper. Many connoisseurs prefer the Cabernet Sauvignon Barrique to the Merlot barrique, finding it less intense and more balanced. Barbera is another of Vipava's specialties, a pleasant and refreshing wine somewhat lighter than usual for this variety.
Sauvignon is probably the most successful of the winery's white wines, and its consistent high quality is regularly awarded at wine fairs in Slovenia and abroad; wine from selected grapes undergoes particularly attentive processing and is bottled separately as Sauvignon Izbor Zemono. Chardonnay is the winery's second regular winner, and among its many prizes it was awarded the 1993 Prix d'excellence in Paris. The latest specialty of Vipava 1894 is Pikulit, a slamno vino made from dried Rebula grapes.
Wines made from old autochthonous grapevines remain among Vipava's priorities. Zelen and Pinela have already been reestablished, though the quantity is still insufficient to satisfy the demand; Pergulin and Klarnica are currently available only for tasting.
The best vintages from the Vipava 1894 cellar are 1983, 1986, 1990, 1992, and 1993.
