There are very few experiences in Europe that feel “undiscovered” at this point. Of course places like Rome and Dubrovnik are worth the visit, but you are acutely aware that millions before you have chartered the same path. But as a slow, old and very delayed train took us over the border from Austria to Slovenia and we exited at the Maribor station, the solo taxi driver (who didn’t speak a lick of English) waiting out front was a pretty good indicator that this wasn’t going to be one of those chartered experiences. In fact, when a few weeks earlier I was sitting at my computer in South Korea doing some preliminary research on biking the wine country in Northern Slovenia, I was fairly frustrated about the lack of information. And while it made the pre-planning process a little bit arduous (which honestly is a good thing for me as I’m trying to be less “planned” - it’s a year + long process apparently) this lack of a many times over recommended path made for one of the most lovely and authentic experiences that we’ve ever had in Europe. If you’re a wine lover, this one's for you (PS - you can see a full interactive map of this experience here).
Dressed in our only nice clothes, (as nice as a dress from Zara that can roll into a backpack can be) Tim and I stepped off the train in Maribor and lugged our belongings to the aforementioned solo cab driver waiting out front for any departing passengers. As he saw us approach and stepped out to help us with our bags, I got a glimpse of his face and thought “holy shit, is that my Uncle Joe?!”. It of course wasn’t, unless he was going with some long elaborate ruse where he pretended to only speak Slovenian and to not to know us at all, which would be a real long con. After brushing off this possibility, I surmised the resemblance must be uncanny because of my Slovenian heritage on his (my Mom’s) side of the family. In a country of 2.1 million people it’s entirely possible this nice cab driver was a very distant cousin of mine after all.
After conversing in some very broken English and some universal sign language, Uncle Joe’s doppelganger punched in our destination on his Garmin Nav system (literally the old school one that goes on the dash) and slid the car out of the station onto a two-lane road that was taking us to Zgornja Kungota, the town outside of Maribor where our cycling journey would begin. We were dressed nicely because we were heading to have lunch at Hiša Denk, a Michelin-starred restaurant situated in a tiny town of literally just 504 people in the middle of wine country, before we started our trek.
If you’re surprised there’s a Michelin starred restaurant in this tiny of a place in Slovenia, well I was too. I had no idea until I was doing some research the day before on Google Maps and stumbled upon it. Luckily they had an opening for a lunch course (starting at only 50 Euro per person - a steal a Michelin-starred place) which we snagged. But first, we were going to drop our bags off at the company with which we rented our bikes for the long weekend who were also kindly holding our big luggage for us. I had found WineBike Slovenia on a Google search and started emailing with the owner, Peter, who was really helpful with suggestions for our trip. As faux-Uncle Joe pulled up to a single-family house in a residential part of town, I was sure his Garmin had failed us. But to my surprise, Peter popped out of the front door and escorted us onto the driveway, helping with our bags. It turns out, WineBike is a small but efficient operation run out of his parents home in Zgornja.
Bags stored, we promised Peter we would be back in a couple hours and a few glasses of wine later, and walked the short 7-minute distance to Hiša Denk. The restaurant itself is stunning - made of lovely wood and glass in a modern aesthetic that expertly incorporates the surrounding nature so we felt like you were in a treehouse in the woods while eating. We were absolutely blown away by the 5-course lunch that was expertly paired with mostly local Slovenian wines. There was foie gras disguised as cherries, beef tartare in a cone and perfectly cooked fish and beef. Plus some home churned butter that Tim was practically licking off the dish. In short, it’s a must visit when you’re in Slovenian wine country.
Once we were done gorging ourselves, we headed back to Peter’s parents house where they graciously allowed us to use their restroom to change into more appropriate biking clothes. Peter showed us how everything worked on the electric bikes that we had rented (we needed the extra boost on the hills) and after we packed our day bags in our side saddles we were off! We were spending the first night in Maribor, the second largest city in Slovenia behind Ljbuliana, which meant we were backtracking the route that we had driven earlier.
The big difference was this time around it was raining (and we were on bikes of course) and the roadwork on the two-lane road that we were following had turned from dirt to mud. Tim and I quickly gained the lovely “stripe” that adorns bikers backs in rainy conditions.
But it was only a short 10 mile bike ride to Maribor and we were quickly to the center of town where our hotel, Gentry11 Rooms&More, was located. We dropped off our bikes and took a quick shower in our really nicely renovated room (think Restoration Hardware chic) before heading out to explore Maribor. The city is situated on the Drava river and is actually home to the world’s oldest grapevine, planted well over 400 years ago, that is still producing wine. We checked this out and walked around the charming city before we settled in for some wine and dinner at LeVino Wine Bar right on the central street. We enjoyed a few glasses of Orange wine, a favorite of ours, which is a popular style in Slovenia. The night culminated with an entertaining but bit too close for comfort bar brawl (others, not us) and we decided it was time we call it a night at that point.
The next morning we woke up bright and early to hit the Maribor riverside market, open every Wednesday - Sunday from 7 am, to grab some coffee and fresh fruit to fuel our bike ride for the day. Then we packed up our saddle bags and hit the road. The road leading out of Maribor has a nice bike path and we followed it out of the city but eventually we turned left and peddled up a huge hill (thank God for the electric assist!) for a few miles and let the city life melt away to rolling hills of farmland and of course, vineyards. The views on this part of the bike ride were absolutely stunning and we found ourselves stopping multiple times to just take in the green for miles and miles. After a short 4 mile ride we hit our first winery of the day, Valentine, a family run operation that specializes in organic wines, a favorite of ours. We hadn’t called ahead but luckily we caught the winemaker who was just about to head out on a tractor with his Dad to do some farm chores, but who graciously agreed to stay behind and pour us some wines. While everything was delicious, our favorite was the Rainbow, which is 100% Souvignier Gris, a German white varietal that does well in this area and that the winemaker does in an Orange style. One striking feature of Slovenian’s wine country is how unpretentious it is, and Valentine is a great example. The wines are award-winning but it is still a family-run operation, a trend that we would see all throughout our wine visits on this trip, and the farmers put so much effort and love into everything they do.
Afterwards we hopped back on the bikes for a short ride over to Fontana Vin, a wine bar perched up on a hill overlooking a valley that has something for everyone, including kids (or the young at heart!). There is a huge zipline and petting zoo and the food, which is made in a kitchen across the valley, is delivered via a wooden crate and pulley system connecting the two. Tasting the wine is also a unique experience. We paid for a glass that has an electric sensor on the bottom which allowed us to taste 6 of the 10 local wines and juices on offer poured perfectly from self-service wine barrels. While we didn’t partake in the zipline, we enjoyed tasting some local wines and snacked on a cheese and meat plate (the first of what would be MANY) before getting back on our bikes for the longer ride of the day.
We were spending the night at Viña Bracko, a winery, operating farm and guesthouse, a 12.5 mile ride away from where we were tasting at Fontana Vin. This ride took us through vineyards and past small towns always adorned with a church with a tall steeple you can see from miles away. Some small towns had ancient windmills and every single one of them was absolutely adorable. Each time we had a hill climb we were rewarded with stunning views at the top and also thankful that we had the electric assist on our bikes. And we were struck by how few other people we saw on these roads, both cars and other bikers. It felt like we had this unreal countryside completely to ourselves. After a beautiful ride, we arrived at Viña Bracko and were welcomed by the winemaker / owners young daughter who poured us a taste of their estate-grown Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay while we were shown to our room, a charming wood-lined cottage-esque room with an extremely comfortable bed.
Before we settled in here for the night, we decided to stop by their neighbors, Šumenjak Srečko, another wine-maker who specializes in natural and organic wines. After knocking on their cellar door a few times, the family grandfather who didn’t speak a lick of English motioned us across the street to the family house where Srečko’s wife greeted us and offered to do a tasting on their porch which gave us a view of the vineyards.
I don’t know if it was just because we were sitting on a family porch with kids coming and going or because Srećko’s wife sat with us and joined in on tasting some wines, but the resulting evening felt more like a night spent with friends then any wine tasting we had ever experienced in the States. Srečko eventually came back from the farm and joined us and some neighbors came by to see what the family had opened to share for the evening. We left with two bottles of wine (their Pet Nat was out of this world) and a feeling of contemptment that comes from good wine and great conversation.
In searching for food back at our accommodation we found that they themselves didn’t serve dinner and the closest restaurant was about a 12 mile round trip, so we were about to cut our losses and go to bed hungry. But our hosts graciously offered to make us a cheese and meat plate which they served with some pickled vegetables from their farm and homemade pate and crackling spread (a delicious pork fat spread with pieces of chicharon on top). As we sat on the porch and watched the sun set eating our dinner, we heard the loud squeals of pigs nearby signifying that what we were eating was really as farm to table as it gets. It’s a luxury, in my opinion, to know exactly where your meal comes from and really appreciate the effort put in to bring it to your stomach. Full and happy, we headed to our room to sleep.
The next morning we stumbled downstairs for the included breakfast and laughed to ourselves when the meal was the exact same spread we had for dinner the night before. We were three meals running of solely cured meats and cheeses, but still not sick of it at this point. This day would bring us into Austria on our ride before settling down for the night in another farm-stay right across the border back into Slovenia. But not, of course, before some wine-tasting and one of our favorite meals of the trip. After saying goodbye to our hosts at Vina Bracko, and their gorgeous German Shepherd who tried, almost successfully, to eat our drone when we took a few shots of their farm, we started our ride over to our lunch spot, Dveri Pax.
Dveri Pax is a winery and restaurant set in an old Benedictine monastery that continues their 800-year old tradition of winemaking. The grounds were stunning and since we were early for lunch we walked around and took a look at their vegetable garden where much of what we would eat in an hour was grown. Although this restaurant doesn’t have a Michelin star, they should be well on their way to get one. Again in seemingly the middle of nowhere Slovenia, we had one of our favorite meals of our year-long trip so far. We were seated in a beautiful garden and immediately served some champagne to start off our tasting menu. The first course was a bite of fresh tuna served in an open sardines can and stuffed with fresh greens. Second was a fresh pea soup and third a ravioli stuffed with ricotta and then a course of fresh beef. Everything was seasonal, delicious and served impeccably while paired with one of their delicious wines and best of all, I didn’t feel out of place in my fairly casual outfit because at the end of the day, you’re still in the farmland. We were so happy with this meal (partly because it wasn’t solely meat and cheese) and basically floated away on our bikes to head across the border to Austria and try a few more wines.
Biking across the border into another country in the EU was basically a non-event and with a nod to the border guard and a few short pedals, we were in another country. And while the street signs all of a sudden looked different, our surroundings definitely didn’t. We headed left after our border crossing and up a few more steep hills and again, stopped multiple times for pictures of the rolling green hills and vineyards for miles. The only difference we noticed was the sheer number of wine tasting rooms which had significantly increased over in Austria. It seems that Slovenia is still a bit further behind their neighboring country when it comes to commercializing wine tasting, which in my opinion is a great thing. But that aside, we had a lot of options to stop by and try some Austrian wines.
We decided on Weingut Rebenhof, another natural winery that we had actually tried before in the States (you’ll notice a trend on the types of wineries that we choose). When we showed up, we were asked if we had a reservation and told that we should have tried to book an appointment, but luckily we were allowed to come in and taste. We were seated on a patio overlooking the valley below and we found we could actually see the farmstay where we were going to spend the night (back over in Slovenia). We enjoyed pours of their Silt, an orange wine made with Burgundy grapes and their fresh and zippy Sauvignon Blanc plus their fruity and easy drinking Zweigelt, a red wine that is served well with a chill. Looking down at the valley below, we knew we had a downhill trek ahead of us to our accommodations for the night, but had no worries as we sat in the sun and enjoyed the breeze soaking in the Austrian wine country.
When it was time to go, we got back on our bikes and decided on the most direct route to Farmstay Jarc where we were spending the night. Looking back, we might have done this differently as this route had us both trespassing and going down very steep and unpaved “roads” literally though vineyards and under a makeshift gate that acted as the border crossing (no guards on this part of the border). Luckily we made it down with only some chattering teeth and I may have let out some unkind expletives when I saw our hike back up another hill to make it to Jarc. Thankfully for the electric assist, and Tim who was now carrying about 5 bottles of wine in addition to his things in his side saddles, we made it to the top and were rewarded with a gorgeous view from the yellow farmhouse. After parking, we were shown to our lovely room with a balcony overlooking the vineyards by the patriarch of the family and invited down to the dining room on a lower balcony for some of their family wine and some “dinner” for the night. I put dinner in quotations because the options were, again, limited to a plate of cheese and cured meats but luckily this time they were able to throw in a salad for a little bit of variation (and honestly - fiber!). We enjoyed yet another stunning sunset right over their rolling hills of vineyards and a nice conversation with the families son who was training to take over the wine-making from his father in the coming years, and again we went to bed very tired, very tipsy and very happy.
The next day was our last but we weren’t ready to end this heavenly and wine-filled part of the trip just yet. When we asked the Jarc son if he had any suggestions of places we could have one more wine tasting to round out our long weekend, he suggested Vino Valdhuber, run by family friends who were actually seated at the table behind us the night before enjoying some of the Jarc wine. He gave them a call and they graciously agreed to host us for a lunchtime tasting, even though they were hosting an event that day and we headed over there after a nice breakfast at Jarc. Their tasting room stood out from others in the area due to its modern facade and we found that they had fully renovated and modernized their farmhouse a few years ago. Again greeted by the patriarch of the family, we were seated on the modern balcony and immediately poured a taste of their bubbles, which we sipped appreciatively.
The winemaker mentioned that they were actually in the process of bottling this year's batch and asked if we wanted to see how it was done, which we excitedly accepted. We were taken into the cellar and met his son and their one helper who walked us through the disgorging process, where the yeast used to create the bubbles is expelled from the bottle. The inverted bottles are placed in a freezing liquid which causes the yeast to freeze in the neck of the bottle. The cap is then quickly popped off the pressurized bottle, discarding the frozen piece containing the yeast. After this is done, they use a corking machine to shove in the famous-poppable corks and voila - sparkling wine!
Again, we found ourselves discussing over the last of our wine tasting how these types of experiences are hard to come by now without paying for an expensive tour somewhere in Napa or Tuscany or Bordeaux, and even when you can get them you’re grouped with dozens if not hundreds of other tourists. The Slovenian wine country is still yet to be discovered to this extent allowing for more authentic experiences and conversations. As we biked our last stretch back to Zgornja Kungota I was reluctant to end this part of the trip and knew I would miss the green rolling hills, the delicious wines and yes…even the cheese and meat plates.
Some Tips for Biking the Slovenian Wine Country:
Follow our route! You can see everything that we did on this interactive map here.
Email Peter at info@winebike.si a couple weeks ahead to ensure he has availability
Call or email the wineries that you hope to visit a day before to make sure someone will be there to help with a tasting
Email the properties where you're staying to ask if they're serving dinner. A lot reduced their services during Covid and were slowly coming back. If not, be prepared to eat lots of meats and cheeses or bring some snacks! There's no lack of food around
Don't worry about wearing comfortable bike clothing to wine tastings - everything is very casual
Bring your sense of adventure!!
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