The rich tradition of viticulture and winemaking goes back to 1778 and has been passed down from generation to generation. My ancestors initially produced a small amount of wine, but they were very proud and grateful for what they had worked hard to produce. I am Urban Petrič and I am an eighth generation winemaker. I have a lot of passion, dedication and love for viticulture and winemaking, just like the previous owners.
Today, the estate consists of a total of nine vineyards spread over eight hectares of land. All the vineyards are located on the southern slopes of the Vipava Valley around my home village of Slap, which was described in the 17th century. Valvasor described it in his book The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola (1689), where he especially praised the noble wines from Slap: "The tears of the vineyard in Slap, which lies near Lože, are even more delicious." The soil of the vineyards is a mixture of limestone, lapis lazuli, sandstone and clay. The results are mineral-rich wines.
The natural weather conditions in the Vipava Valley help me to produce wines of a special quality. We are located on the border between Mediterranean and continental climates. The mixing of climates results in the formation of a wind storm. A gale is a strong north-easterly wind that can exceed 200 km/h. It usually occurs during the winter months. In summer, there is a gentle breeze to help dry the morning dew. This allows them to produce healthy grapes and, later, natural wines.
Valuable experience from centuries of experience has been passed down from generation to generation, and in this way we have acquired a great deal of experience from our ancestors in the cultivation of vines and wines. We are now building on this experience by introducing new technologies that help us to achieve world-class wines. We are in favour of single-cluster farming, which produces lower yields but much better quality grapes, as they have more sugar and more flavour. We are also pursuing the development of a more environmentally friendly way of producing grapes. This means growing grapes with less spraying and using natural fertilisers. I produce 10 different varieties of wine, 70% white and 30% red. Among other varieties, I am very proud of two local indigenous grape varieties, Zelen and Pinela.
