Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Italy—which, after all, is just an hour down the road.
SloveneissurprisinglydifferentfromlanguagesspokenintheotherformerYugoslavrepub-
lics. While Serbian and Croatian are mutually intelligible, Slovene is gibberish to Serbs and
Croats. Most Slovenes, on the other hand, know Serbo-Croatian because, a generation ago,
everybody in Yugoslavia had to learn it.
Linguists have identified some 46 official dialects of Slovene, and there are probably
another 100 or so unofficial ones. Locals can instantly tell which city—or sometimes even
which remote mountain valley—someone comes from by their accent.
The tiny country of Slovenia borders Italy and Austria, with important historical and lin-
guistic ties to both. For self-preservation, Slovenes have always been forced to function in
many different languages. All of these factors make them excellent linguists. Most young
Slovenes speak effortless, flawless English—then admit that they've never set foot in the
United States or Britain, but love watching American movies and TV shows (which are al-
ways subtitled, never dubbed).
Slovenian Wines
While many visitors wouldn't expect Slovenia to produce good
vino
(wine), it should
come as no surprise that it does, since this little country abuts well-respected wine-
growing neighbors Italy and Hungary. In fact, Slovenia's winemaking tradition ori-
ginated with its pre-Roman Illyrian and Celtic inhabitants, meaning that wine has
been grown much longer here than in most other European countries. As in Croatia,
wine standards plummeted with Yugoslav-era collectivization, but in recent years
ambitious vintner families are determined to bring quality back to Slovenian
wines—with impressive results.
Slovenia's three main wine-growing regions are Primorska, Posavje, and
Podravje.
The best-known is the
Primorska
region, in the southwest. With a Mediterranean
climate (hence its name: “by the sea”), Primorska is best known for its reds. Primor-
ska's Goriška Brda (“Hillsides of Gorica”) shares the terroir of Italy's Friuli/Venezia
Giulia region (and its much-vaunted, DOC-classified Collio Goriziano wines). Not
coincidentally, this area produces some of Slovenia's most respected wines, made
mostly with internationally known grapes such as merlot and cabernet sauvignon.
