the Teran Red Karst wine region

The Teran wine region is also known as Kras or in English a seperate Karst region and it is squeezed into the Western border of Green Slovenia between the Italian hills and the Vipava wine valley with the Goricia Hills wine region above.. all just around the corner from Lipizzaner Lodge!

It stretches from the white fences of Lipica and the Lipizzaner horses all the way up to the pretty little wine town of Komen and above. In between you get a lot of value for your tourist buck.. with rolling hills covered in vines growing in a deep red soil AND grassy plains with long straight roads on which you could lose yourself on a bike.

The fields are punctuated with numerous typical Karst stone walls and there are lots of little stone villages and picturesque churches scattered around with Stanjel, sitting proudly in the middle of it all on top of a medieval hill completely surrounded by vineyards. Green Slovenia is a tiny country, but stuffed with completely different looking regions and there is nothing quite like this mini Kras region in the rest of this country..

The word Karst can be a little confusing here though.. as Karst is also a general geological term that originates from Slovenia to describe the massive leaky limestone rock features which cover half of Green Slovenia. And Lipizzaner Lodge is just over the other side of Nanos mountain in another Karst area called the Green Karst, with lots of caves and disappearing lakes.

a typical Karst scene.. hilly, thick stone, beautiful windows, metal door, rose and sunshine..
a typical Karst scene.. hilly, thick stone, beautiful windows, metal door, rose and sunshine..

 

How to get there..

Just a day or half day exploring in the Karst Teran region is enough to see these big differences.. and there are many easy ways to access the Kras from the Lodge.. it is just 20 minutes drive to Sezana, which we would describe as the gateway to the Teran wine region. From Sezana you can really access the spine of the Kras along the main road going via Tomaj, Dutovlje, Stanjel and Komen in a loop.. this would be a really great tour.

Better still to go just 20 mins to Divaca and access the region via the even smaller country roads, maybe via Dane, Storje or Dobravlje to see some really pretty tiny stone villages and smaller side roads.

But our favourite way is to "see 2 Slovenian Wine Regions in the same 5 mins" by driving up from the Vipava wine valley via Mance towards Stanjel as the scenery changes before your very eyes! You can almost click your fingers at the point on the top of the lush green Vipava valley slopes where the Teran vines start growing from the dry red soil and the small stone houses start looking even more Italian! 

It doesnt really matter how you get here, the most important thing is you know this where this mini region is on the western edge of Slovenia and that you have a good tinkle around here, maybe combining the Teran region with a whole host of other possible amazing secret places, such as Lipica, the Skocjan cave, the Slovenian or Italian coasts or Trieste, just as a few examples!

What is Teran wine?

the Teran Red Karst wine region

 

This is another of Slovenia's completely unique locally grown wines and the Karst is the only place in the world where you can get it! The unique Teran grape is grown in the thin red soil that covers this rocky Karst region and gives the wine it's incredible blood red colour.

The red soil is absolutely packed with iron and amazingly, a Slovenian doctor might prescribe Teran wine to a patient who needs to boost their iron!! (Pack your bags and move to Slovenia)!! Once you taste it, mind, you might be happy to stick to just one glass.. as Teran is the perfect accompanyment to the locally air cured Prsut (prosciutto or dried ham) or local cheese, but you would be hard pressed to drink a whole bottle in an evening.

There are some very very good Teran producers of course, but most people here settle for the local version with some bread, meat and cheese. We have a wine partner in this region, whom we get our Teran wine from and you should know there are lots of variants of Teran here and it is also used to make the most delicious cuvees. There is also an elusive "white" Teran grape that was rediscovered from Roman times called Grganja and there are only about 2,000 vine bushes for this entire species!!

Yes folks, you don't even need to be a wine buff to get excited about the variety, history and quality of wine available in just one Slovenian wine region that might never have heard of until you read this! We love to tease our guests by offering them a taste of a mystery liquer from Kras and the ingredients are almost never guessed correctly! But it is Teran liquer and if you havent tasted it.. and lets face it you probably haven't.. it is absolutely fantastic!

And one of the other amazing thing about Slovenia's different wine regions is that Teran grapes are ALSO grown in the Coastal Hinterland wine region, but the soil and conditions there are SOOO different.. just 40km as the crow flies from the Teran wine region..but you get another unique and completely different Refosk wine! Cheers..

What does the Teran Kras mini Region look like?

stone is a major feature of the Karst landscape..
stone is a major feature of the Karst landscape..

 

The short answer is.. nothing like anything else in Green Slovenia and this is exactly why you should come here.

A three word answer to that question would be, Stone, Wine & Prsut.. and you can expect to see a lot of stunning little stone villages with beautiful Karst walls along the roads to keep the sheep in the fields and you should also expect to eat and drink very very well here indeed!

Stone is such a feature of this sunny region and we encourage you to have a good walk and look around the towns and villages to spot the heavy greyish white Karst stone blocks supporting doors and windows or forming stairways.. it is very special stone indeed and often the lintels have a carved peperred nobbly effect on them. (We are lucky enough at the Lodge to have our main door frame made from antique Karst stone from 1940 that we got from the original farmhouse that stood here.

The Kras is yet another mini region in Slovenia where you might want to pinch yourself to remind that are in Slovenia! In this particular case it just looks so Italian here.. but the great thing is that it is not.. it's Green Slovenia!

There are tracks and trails everywhere here and once you get off the wiggly main road to Stanjel, nearer Komen, the fields open out and the roads flatten to provide an absolute paradise for biking around!

And the food! Just give youself plenty of time to eat here.. and take a glass of house Teran with your Prsut and cheese starting platter to get your Karst eating experience underway!

Here are a few little extra Tips in no particular order to help you Explore the Karst Teran region..

Hike from Tomaj..

There is a really fab hike from the cute little village of Tomaj to Sezana and back.. Park in the tiny village car park and close to there are little red circles and arrows to guide you through the vineyards into the forest, over the motorway to Sezana.. maybe visit the beautiful botanic gardens in Sezana and walk back.. there is a very good local restaurant in Tomaj village almost opposite the car park. 

village centre of Dutovlje..
village centre of Dutovlje..

 

Stop off at Dutovlje..

This is one of our most favourite little villages in Green Slovenia and it so feels like you are in Italy. The church spire dominates the little stone settlement with a tiny, but lively colorful village centre. THE MINIMUM you must do here is sit at the cafe in the middle and watch the world go by.. see the locals go to the greengrocers or the boulangerie.. fantastic.. there is a nice local restaurant here also in the centre and even a train station further down the main road if you are on foot.

We seriously considered Dutovlje as a location for Lipizzaner Lodge while we were searching around Slovenia for our own little spot, but whilst it ticked a lot of boxes, it simply doesnt have the sensational central location we found near Postojna.. But we explored a lot around here and this is why we know how beautiful the Kras is and why we say to you, that, if you can, just explore here too. 

Super Stanjel.. 

Slovenia's premier hill top walled town, it is so good we have a seperate page for it here.. Stanjel. The views from the top of the hill are fantastic and it is fun just circling around the tight little stone streets. You would need to book to eat at the only restaurant here in the castle grounds and there is a fab shop selling locally made souvenirs!! (Put that one in your notebook as you almost won't find souvenirs anywhere else in the Kras)!

Drive to Komen..

The drive to Komen is really great and Komen itself is a small pretty town suuronded by vineyards, but there is a really great restaurant there, Spacapan, serving high quality local food.. but seriously give yourself plenty of time here to eat the multiple fantastic light gourmet courses and you really MUST book ahead (00386 302 263 90). It is well worth the drive out here with maybe a focus of eating at Spacapan and then you will get to see a little more of the Karst up here.

the very grand church at Komen.. the Karst churches have a similar design, but all different..
the very grand church at Komen.. the Karst churches have a similar design, but all different..

 

Go Church Spotting..

The churches here dominate the village skylines.. they are beautiful and all seem to be made from that lovely white local stone.. you will see from our gallery below that they each have a similar design.. but in turn each one is different to the others.. and all are very different to the rest of Slovenia!

Rent or Bring an E Bike..

You could really take on the hills and thrills and spills of this region on an E bike. Even the main roads are pretty much deserted and with a bike you can take some extra tracks between villages to really get to see this special mini region. You will see about 3 times more on an E bike compared to a regular mountain bike as well.. 

Buzz off to a honey farm..

We get our breakfast honey from Povir, a little village near Divaca on the edge of the Karst in what we describe as Slovenia's Honeybelt! The honey is just soooo good & natural from here and the bees have so many different choices of flower, meadow and tree to munch on that you can get to try lots of different honey flavours that you might not have known existed!

Slovenia invented the modern method of box beekeeping and it should come as no suprise to you that a country 13 times bigger than greater London with only 2 million people and over 60% covered with forest.. the honey here is really rather good! 

So if the kids want to see how the purest honey you can get is made, or you want to stock up on a few jars of the sweet stuff to take home, then we can help you organise a visit to a friendly local bee expert!

Dane

We mentioned Dane earlier here as a place to enter the Teran region, but there is also a very nice hotel restaurant in this village.. don't be put off by how posh it looks here, as this is Slovenia, so everyone is equal and you will find the excellent food surprisingly affordable..

We did say there were some great culinary options in this mini Teran region, now you know more restaurants here than you can fit into a day!!

Do a Wine Tour..

Go visit a vineyard, meet the locals and discover how Teran wine dominates this little region. If you are lucky you will also get to taste the local Prscuitto, home made bread and cheese!

 

So this whole mini region is absoutely adorable and you could have a wonderful time just driving or biking around. As you get to the furthest villages you might even drive into Italy by mistake and only know when you are surprised to see a new sign for Slovenia! But don't worry about this.. it's fun and perfectly normal here

In two shakes of a dragons tail, you can go downhill for a bit out of the Kras to get to the massive Trieste Adriatic cliffs and the delightful little Italian villages along there and even go down to the Italian seaside at Sistiana, Duino or visit the fantastic Mirimare castle by the sea, see here for more..

But whatever you do.. don't buy Teran wine from the supermarket.. come here, meet the people, walk in the vineyards and try the real stuff!

Email: info@lipizzanerlodge.com

Address: Landol 17, Postojna 6230, Slovenia

Phone: +386 5620 3443
Mobile: +386 40 47 0239 or +386 40 37 8037

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