Must turns into wine on St Martin's Day

SLOVENIA, November 15 - One of the most popular festivals in Slovenia, St Martin's usually extends into the weekend before or after the name day of the patron saint of new wine, observed on 11 November.

The festivities include wine blessing ceremonies, wine knights and queens, dances, live music, and wine tastings showcasing a variety of wineries, accompanied by tasty food.

Even beyond the public ceremonies many Slovenians enjoy a typical St Martin's dinner at home, consisting of roast goose or duck with mlinci, or pasta tatters, and red cabbage.

St Martin's is sometimes jokingly referred to as Štajerska New Year's Day. Indeed, the biggest St Martin's event is held in Maribor, Slovenia's second largest city and the regional capital of Štajerska.

Held for the 39th time, the festival was extended into four days this year, culminating with the grape must christening on 11 November.

St Martin's Festival in the winemaking region of Kras in the southwest was held for a week, with the region's top wineries showcasing their wines at an event in the picturesque medieval town of Štanjel on 9 November.

On the same day, St Martin's fest in Ptuj, Slovenia's oldest town, marked the start of preparations for the carnival season which the town is best known for.

The capital city joined the celebrations with the Ljubljana Wine Route where visitors had a choice of more than 400 wines from across the country to sample.

St Martin's festivities are not over yet though, as the southern region of Bela Krajina will host its main celebration in Semič between 14 and 17 November and the seaside town of Koper will have its St Martin's Festival on 16 November.

This year's grape harvest was affected by frost in spring, rains during the pollination season and heat and drought in summer, which decimated the output, but did not impact on the quality.

Marjan Colja, head of the Wine Company of Slovenia, says the harvest was the worst in 50 years in terms of volumes, but the wine is of excellent quality.

Data from the Statistical Office shows 72,000 tonnes of grapes were produced this year, 8% less than last year. More than 28,000 winegrowers worked over 14,000 hectares of vineyards.

In the 2022/2023 season 572,000 litres of wine were produced in Slovenia, of which two-thirds was white wine.

Last year Slovenia exported €19.6 million worth of wine, most to the US, Italy and Croatia, and imported €20.7 million worth, mostly from France, Italy and North Macedonia.

Source: STA