In the heart of Vipava Valley (a cool ride from Nova Gorica in the West, all along the 444/4xx roads towards Postojna). Slovenia is well known for its’ Merlots, apparently.
Saksida Vineyard/reservation, Zalošče, Dormberk…
Clockwise from Top-Left: barrels!; Masceration tanks; their range of wine; and free non-alcoholic grape juice for me to down that was SOOO naturally sweet like you wouldn’t believe!! Not for sale, sadly! 😀
Some fun things I learnt:
*Wine-making season starts in September (doh!) ;P
*Workers start at 6am;
*Only pick for 5 hours to avoid midday heat damaging the picked crops;
*22-hour work day!
*January is the only month off!
*Masceration & how red wine is red from the pigment of the grape skins;
*The optimum for the grapes in that region should be ~16 Degrees C. Red grapes are mascerated at 18C & for a few more hours;
*A young wine is a few months old;
*Though you can gauge within 2hrs if a wine will mature into a great one or not.
*Hmm, could be figurative for my love life, too:….what I thought was sweet ain’t sweet ;P
PackedPanniers.com 
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