Maribor, home to the world’s oldest vine!
This private tour is designed for people who love wine! It combines fairytale landscape with cultural and historical traditions of wine growing and traditional cuisine. Štajerska/Slovenian Steiermark region has a rich portfolio of excellent Slovenian wines, but it is known especially for its white varieties.
The city of Maribor is also home to world’s oldest vine, nearby hilly Jeruzalem with its ancient tradition of wine growing and Ptuj – a medieval town full of history, with the oldest wine cellar in Slovenia.
Join us on this tour, discover rich diversity of different wine varieties and taste many of them – 3 different wine tastings with 11 samples of selected wines.
To make the trip even more memorable you will receive a special gift on behalf of ljubljana.today!
Ljubljana hotels
09:00 hours
Slovenia is renowned for its hospitality, excellent cuisine and premium wines and the Štajerska region is one of the main wine regions of Slovenia. The wines from these localities are amongst Slovenia’s most prestigious. In this part of Slovenia the wine is known since pre-historic times and the town of Maribor has long been a wine centre for this part of Europe.
Under the Habsburgs and the Austro-Hungarian empire the red wines from Maribor were a useful complement to the whites made in Austria. The Štajerska region is the land of hundreds of small rounded hills, minerals-rich and with free-draining soil – ideal viticulture land. The portfolio of wine grape varieties grown here are Germanic influenced. Widely planter are varieties of the Riesling wine. You can also find a lot of vineyards where the Traminec (Gewurztraminer) and Rizvanec (Muller-Thurgau) are grown. Not rare to find are the Sivi and Beli Pinot (Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc).
Due to the long tradition of vine growing it is only befitting that in Maribor, along the banks of the Drava river, the world’s oldest vine is still growing. Her scions now grow in almost all the continents and in numerous places in Slovenia. This “old lady” was planted at the end of the Middle Ages and is definitely worth of your attention! And you will honour her in the Old Vine house where you’ll enjoy a wine tasting of 3 different regional wines.
Then, our tour will take us to the scenic Prlekija, a small area known for its cuisine and the growing of the vine. We will visit the small, idyllic village of Jeruzalem that got its name from the pilgrims and crusaders returning from the Holy Land. Jeruzalem’s tradition of vine growing is centuries old. Many white varieties are grown in this area. Especially renowned is the Šipon ( Furmint) though many other varieties like the Muscat Ottonel, Sauvignon and more … are also well known.
We will visit a wine house that sits atop a round hill and looks like a herald of everything alluring and pleasant. The view of the surrounding countryside is incredible. You will savor your lunch of traditional Prlekija dishes, accompanied with a glass of fine wine.
After a hearty lunch a wine tasting experience is next. You will delight in 4 different varieties of locally produced wines.
Following this heartwarming experience and after a short drive we will arrive in Ptuj, Slovenia’s oldest town. Besides a long and rich history Ptuj boasts the oldest wine cellar in Slovenia. You will take pleasure in the guided tour through the cellar’s underground hallways, learn about its ages long tradition and enjoy a taste of their select wines. You will spoil your taste buds with the Haložan, that is a blend of locally produced Laški Rizling, Sauvignon, Beli Pinot and Šipon. It ages quite well. And to finish the cellar tour we’ll taste 3 more varieties of the local wine.
Time to enjoy a walk through the Ptuj old centre – a charming historic town. Wherever in the city the visitor stops, the heritage is the scenery all around him: Orpheus Monument, St. George’s Church, Dominican and Franciscan monasteries, the caste on the hill …
End of the day we’ll return to Ljubljana to the original departure point.
