The Vipava Valley

<p>The Vipava valley runs west from the Karst edge towards Italy, and the meeting of alpine and Mediterranean air over it produces both excellent wine and the bora, a dry north-easterly that can blow hard enough to stop traffic. Vines have been worked here since Roman times, on terraces below limestone escarpments, and the valley has become one of the most interesting wine regions in central Europe — a stronghold of small growers and of natural and orange winemaking.</p><p>What sets it apart is what grows here: alongside familiar international varieties, the valley keeps indigenous white grapes — zelen and pinela above all — that are grown at scale essentially nowhere else on earth. Add stone villages, a good number of <em>osmica</em> farm taverns opening for a few weeks at a time, and quiet cycling between cellars, and it is the most rewarding corner of Slovenia for anyone who eats and drinks seriously.</p>