Flirting with the Vineyards of Italy - Brda Region - Šmartno - Slovenia

The more familiar a road is

the easier I'm lost.

Louise Erdrich

Šmartno, where vineyards dominate the landscape.
In every direction, grapevines carefully hug fields as far as the eye can see,
dropping behind the horizon.

I first saw Šmartno’s fortified Medieval village (called an eagle’s nest by poet A. Gradnik) from the Gonjače viewing tower (more on that below) a stone's throw from there. To view this hamlet within the context of all those meadows, vineyards, cherry orchards, figs and olive groves is breathtaking.  Once a military fort, today, a somewhat romantic place, where it seems that time stopped long ago, it is a Medieval village with charming Mediterranean character.

For many travelers, these gentle, rolling hills reminds them of Tuscany. The region and its wineries are famous for their hospitality, and are yet to be discovered but that won’t last much longer. There are more than 150 wine producers in the region. Take your pick!

Map of our guided tour.  Full line by bike, dotted line by train
We covered the West side first, then the East side

A bit of fun, the country of Slovenia is roughly in the shape of a chicken

Šmartno

This hilltop village, surrounded by defense walls with watchtowers, is first mentioned in 1317. There are no historical records of the origin of the defense walls, but it is believed that the walls were probably erected on the remains of a Roman bastion in the period of the wars between the Habsburgs and the Venetians during 1507-1519.

Šmartno, served as a fortified hamlet, built around the church of St. Martin, during the times of the Turkish raids in the 15^th and 16^th century. It became a strategically important point on the border between Venice and Austria. Šmartno was actually part of a larger system of fortifications, which included other villages. Šmartno was used as a fortification until the middle of the 18^th century when danger of military attacks from the Venetians ceased.

Walking this tiny village takes a mere thirty minutes and it feels like you are in a small labyrinth of sort with only two public ways out. Other than in your own thoughts, you can’t get lost in this very small place.

The village of Šmartno lies in the heart of this sun-kissed wine region of Brda. Its strategic position on the top of the hill offers a wonderful view from the Alps to the Adriatic sea. The old village walls, narrow streets and defense towers give this village a unique charm.

In the pre-Roman period, wine-growing began in this area because of the excellent weather, unique climate, which has both powerful Alpine and mild Mediterranean influences, as well as mineral and rich soil. It was an established wine-growing area as far back as 181 BCE. Many ancient amphoras found in this area show how vital the village and its environment were as a place where wine was grown. Yet it is little known.

Ever since the earthquake of 1976 and until now Šmartno has enjoyed extensive and needed renovation works.

Unfortunately, a large part of this region had been hit by damaging hail the season I visited so many fields of grapes were not being picked, grapes just slowly drying on the vines.  I watched a few crews and father/son teams clean up the rows between the vines, hoping for a better season next year.

Šmartno, where each soffit has a different pattern

Šmartno, where each soffit has a different pattern

Šmartno, where each soffit has a different pattern

Šmartno, where each soffit has a different pattern

Solkan Bridge

Solkan Bridge

With a span of 85 meters (279 ft), the Solkan Bridge is the world's longest stone arch railroad bridge (second longest if you count road bridges). This masterpiece was finished in 1905, as part of a railway between Gorica and Jesenice (from SW to NE Slovenia).

They used 4,533 ashlar (square-cut) blocks in its construction. The Solkan bridge holds this record because later construction technology used reinforced concrete to build bridges.

The first train from Vienna arrived at the port of Trieste in 1906. The bridge was demolished during WWI. However, they were able to rebuild it following the original plans (with the minor difference of using four sub-arches instead of the original five, and a slightly different curvature) and is still serving its purpose to date.

Then the bridge was spared. During WW2, it suffered only minimal damage from bomb attacks. On August 10, 1944, bombs did not hit the bridge; on March 15, 1945, the bomb that hit the bridge did not explode.

In 1985, the Solkan Bridge was acknowledged as a technical monument and thus enjoy special protection.

Aerial view

Gonjače viewing tower
Dedicated to the 315 local citizens who gave their lives in WWII
Central point of the Brda Region, 75 feet (23m) high with 144 stairs

Gonjače Viewing Tower

When the sky is clear, you can enjoy the breathtaking view of all four points of the compass: the Julian and Carnian Alps, as well as the Dolomites to the North, the Friulian plain to the West, the Trieste Gulf and the Karst to the South, and the Trnovo forest and the Vipava Valley to the east.

Bronze plaque at bottom of viewing tower, sculpted by Janez Boljka
'To the sons of Brda and Benečija, the faithful guardians of our language.'
France Bevk. 

Slovenia is a tiny nation with a population of approximately two million people (nearly the same as New Mexico, USA).  Although small, it has over fifty distinct varieties of languages organized into seven broad categories.  Regional variations emerged as a result of political, geographical, social, and historical causes.  As a result, they have approximately 25 different ways to refer to ‘grandma’ in Slovenia.  Of note, the Slovenian alphabet does not include the following letters:  Q, W, X or Y.  It has 25 letters because it has c, č, s, š, z, ž (giving the accented letters a different pronunciation).

First floor of my hotel suite at the Al Di La Hotel
Mixture of modern and ancient - beautiful

Stairway with hearts

Unfortunately, most grapes had been heavily damaged by hail this season
No one would be picking this failed crop 

Village of Slap - Vipava Valley
Home of the first school of viticulture and pomology in Slovenia (1873)

Village of Slap, kids copying their parents, handling agricultural products

Village of Slap

Today, viticulture is the most important industry in this village of only 400 souls.  It was as early as 1689 that Valvasor wrote that '...the tears of the vineyards in Slap taste the sweetest'.  Zêlen and Pinela are among the oldest indigenous species of vine grown here.  To this day, the village is renowned primarily for its high-quality wines.  

Hotel Majerija, built around 1700
Motto: ‘Aroma Burje in Sonca’, Aroma of the wind and the sun

Hotel Majerija

Waiting for breakfast, I am sitting by the large herb and veggie garden listening to bees hard at work, watching the sun rise over the mountains and now highlighting the church tower of the nearby village of Slap, I feel serene. Not far are a baby llama with mom and dad as well as some goats. Birds are beginning their early morning songs. Sitting on about ten hectares of prime-quality vineyards, orchards and fields, this place is peaceful, calm and lovely. I had a very restful sleep after a long day of biking to get here. The view is sublime.

The initial house was built around the year 1700 containing the usual (kitchen, outhouse, bedrooms) as well as a ‘faladur’ (an old dialect word for an antechamber to the cellar where people socialized and drank), a room for grape/wine processing, a hay shed, a chicken coop, a granary, a stone vaulted cellar, and a stable.

Matej and his wife Nataša finally bought this farmhouse, long dreamed about but without the necessary funds, in 1994 when he was still working as a chef in renowned restaurants and teaching at a hotel school in Trieste. She was also a teacher.

It took them twelve years to slowly give shape to their dream and transform that abandoned place into what it is today. Since Majerija is a protected cultural property surrounded by land used for cultivation, the strict rules made it that the only possibility to make something special was to create a cozy, modern and innovative underground accommodation with completely natural materials.  Of consideration was also the view. 

Because the Vipava valley is so characteristic, I didn't want to change that too much when I wanted to start a hotel. Therefore, I decided to put the rooms not on top of the land, but under the ground. Now you are probably wondering whether there is enough light, but if you had looked closely at the vegetable garden you would have seen that there are large sheets of glass along it.’

Matej, owner of Majerija

Under the herb garden, you enter a simple room. Each of the ten rooms is named after an herb. I chose Rosemary but it could’ve been Lavender, Hyssop, Basil or… A gigantic painting of the said herb covers the far wall of the room. Lavender is of course painted in that color and so are the others, the Rosemary room was painted in that darkish green.

Due to the good use of light, you do not have the feeling of being underground at all. Skylights ensure you’re not starved of natural light, and the temperature is a constant 63F (17C).

I know it is hard to see but the red tiled roof is also covered by extra rocks to keep the tiles from moving during the strong bora winds (strong gusty winds of this area).

Kudo to Matej and Nataša for their perseverance and amazing creativity while respecting the ancient feel of this place.

My Rosemary room
All rooms underground to preserve the look and feel
of this historic building and of the surrounding valley

Skylights in hotel's garden - mine, last one in the back
All ten rooms, underground, but well lit

Hotel's restaurant = Au gratin beetroot pocket, on top of pasta,
sprinkled with pine nuts and a sprig of fresh sage
Recipient of the Gault & Millau rating of 15.5/20 in 2023

The hotel also has its own ancient wine cave
Matej, the owner, recounting its history 

View of the nearby valley

Beautiful anywhere you look

The Walk of Peace hiking trail, established in 2020, traverses this area.  It connects the Alps to the Adriatic Sea along the former WWI frontline that once straddled the mountainous border between today’s Slovenia and Italy. The route which extends approximately 137 miles (220km) passing through villages, under peaks, past glacial lakes, and across pristine rivers, is more than a trekking path. It is also a living history lesson, a string of museums and memorial sites, and a rolling food-and-wine experience. The Walk of Peace Foundation’s mission is to study, restore, preserve, and oversee the many important historical sites along WWI’s Isonzo Front, where twelve battles between the Kingdom of Italy and the then Austro-Hungarian Empire (of which Slovenia was once part) took place from 1915 to 1917. An estimated 350,000 soldiers, from twenty nations, perished during that 29-month period.

Vipava Valley

'The spring fills the air with the sweet scent of cherries and apricots, the summer offers plump peaches and the retreat of the cool wine cellar, the autumn brings persimmons, homemade delights.  The valley with its long vegetation period bears a variety of Mediterranean fruits, and its terraced slopes cradle splendid vineyards and orchards.  The sunny sites across the Vipava Hills provide the skilled and dedicated winegrowers of the land with perfect conditions for growing as many as 25 different grape varieties.'

www.vipavskadolina.si 

Nearly all the routes provide breathtaking views, in clear weather reaching all the way to the sea. 

The wind here is called the Bora – it is so strong that people add rocks on top of the red tiles on their roofs.  They also secure the tiles with cement instead of just nailing them down. 

Vipava has numerous natural and cultural sites.  It’s a place dominated by water and boasts as many as 25 bridges.  e As a bit of a stung, we rode for a few seconds on one of those bridges.  Just to say we did.

In 1500 it was visited by Leonardo da Vinci, who studied the possibilities of damming the Vipava River as a defense against the Turks, thankfully he wasn’t successful. 

First time viewing Šmartno from the Gonjače Tower
Can't miss St. Martin's Church with its heavily built belltower near its center

Saint Martin is recognized as the patron saint of wine so it's fitting the church at the center of the village of Šmartno is dedicated to him.  A new church erected on the site of the older one (1345) because it became too small.  Built from 1899 to 1901, its belltower is 60 meter tall (nearly 200 feet).  Beautifully preserved and with great acoustic.  

Meandering the labyrinth-like alleyways of ancient walled hamlets in this area of alpine meadows where vineyards dominate the landscape in every direction, grapevines carefully embracing every hill, I truly enjoyed this peaceful region where the playful, hilly land, will mesmerize you with its brimful palette of colors, smells, and tastes, while staying mindful of its horrible warring past.