How would one describe the wine made from the grapes of the oldest vine in the world? Precious – no doubt about that. With a fine bouquet and taste. To many wine lovers, priceless.
In front of a house in the old Lent Quarter of Maribor, on the left bank of the Drava River, is the so-called ‘Old Vine’, included in the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest existing vine in the world. With its venerable age of four hundred years, it is a fitting symbol of Slovenia’s rich vine-growing and winemaking culture, especially in the merry Štajerska region where several wine routes crisscross the sun-drenched hilly landscape. The variety is known as Žametovka or Modra Kavčina in Slovene and is naturally one of the oldest domesticated grape varieties in Slovenia. It is also the origin of numerous younger plants growing around the world: many dignitaries visiting Slovenia receive graft of the Lent vine as a gift.
