Vipava Valley

The Vipava valley runs east to west between the Trnovo plateau and the Karst, catching Mediterranean warmth from one end and cold air spilling off the mountains at the other. That cold air is the burja, a downslope wind that reaches destructive speeds in winter and has shaped how the villages are built, with stones on roofs and houses turned away from it. The wines include two varieties grown almost nowhere else, Zelen and Pinela, alongside Rebula and Merlot.

History

In Roman times the river, called fluvius frigidus, the cold river, lay in the region of Venetia et Histria, and in 14 AD the legion XIII Gemina built the Via Gemina along the valley. In the Middle Ages the upper eastern part, with the town of Vipava, belonged to the Duchy of Carniola and the lower western part to the County of Gorizia and Gradisca (Wikipedia, Vipava Valley).

The main sights

• Zelen and Pinela - white varieties grown here and almost nowhere else.
• The burja - the winter downslope wind that shapes building and farming in the valley.
• The hill villages - Vipavski Kriz, Goce and others above the valley floor.
• The cellars - family wineries taking visitors by arrangement.

When to go

April to October; harvest in September and October is the busiest and best for cellar visits. Spring blossom in the orchards is good. The burja blows hardest between November and March and can close roads to high vehicles.

Things to know

Cellars are family operations and most need booking rather than dropping in. The burja is genuinely dangerous for caravans and high-sided vehicles on the exposed motorway stretch. Public transport between the villages is poor.

Nearby

Stanjel is south, and Nova Gorica is west.