NEWS

Our time in the ‘bakery’ is coming to an end. The owner needed the space for himself and we had to move out. As there were no suitable buildings in the vicinity, we decided to build a new cellar. We were looking for a location that would be suitable and where it would be permitted to construct for quite some time. We then found it along a main road, not far from the current location, and we decided to make the purchase.

With the renovation of the vineyard on Pavlovski vrh, we successfully completed a large investment that had started in 2012. On the excellent terrains of Jeruzalem, Brebovnik and Pavlovski vrh, we planted 7.5ha with 30,000 new vines. This provides us with an adequate amount as well as the highest-quality grapes, in addition to a basis for further development.

The year 2012 ended as a success. In addition to successful sales and a good harvest, we made some important investments: the purchase of vineyards and the start of their renovation, a new press and vineyard tractor.

Since 2003, we have been organizing a wine fair together with other winegrowers from the region. The excellently organized event with a rich programme attracts numerous wine enthusiasts from Slovenia and the neighbouring countries. We were visited by the President of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, who surprised us with his good knowledge of wines.

We believe that our region provides excellent conditions for growing white wines. But we had been contemplating planting red varieties for a number of years. After careful consideration we decided to go for Pinot Noir, as we are convinced that the right conditions in the vineyard and cellar could yield excellent results. We ordered grafted vines (clone 777) from Burgundy and planted them in the spring of 2009. In September 2010 were collected the first grapes off 2,000 vines and tested the technology of producing red wines. The 2010 vintage from the two-year-old vineyard is Verus’ first red wine. We produced 181 bottles which are now stored and are not for sale.

Successful sales and an increase in production forced us to expand the wine cellar and update the equipment. We decided to buy new tanks and bottling equipment, which allow us to do even better work and do it more easily.

VieVinum is the most important wine event in neighbouring Austria. It takes place every couple of years and this was our first appearance in the imperial palace. Our presentation was very successful. Among others, the owner of one of the best Austrian restaurants was very impressed and she made the first order for her restaurant Steierereck the very same day.

On the initiative of Mark Hughes from The Real Wine Company, we organized a presentation of wines at Scott’s restaurant in London for the leading global wine media. We prepared a presentation on our work and the wines of our region, and presented our 2007 and 2008 vintages at dinner. An interesting debate was sparked and we received many compliments and the wine was praised. It was an educational and pleasant evening that we shall not forget. Luckily, Beni and Suna from the Original agency made an excellent video report of the event: www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWdJHO6hw4c