WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?
The Harvest Tour:
Food and Wine of Slovenia & Northern Croatia
October 10-20, 2024 with Gabor
SOLD OUT
Our Harvest Tour is a one of a kind opportunity to sit down and talk with the generous and hospitable owners, wine makers and local producers in their cellars, houses, restaurants, shops and mills. A special invitation into peoples’ place of work & passion that focuses on the history, wine making traditions and culinary magic of these countries.
And there’s no better time of year to immerse in this culinary utopia than the harvest season. Most of the tourists have gone home, the leaves are turning color, vineyards are being harvested and the smell of wood stoves and heavenly aromas float through the cool air. This unique tour features a variety of home-cooked dinners, a few very special five-course meals, strolls in the beautiful wine country, ten wine tastings and an array of other tastings including honey, olive oil, jams, fruits and truffles.
Nearly two weeks of stimulating your taste buds can be a bit much. That’s why we’re leaving time for curious guests to back away from the kitchen table and go explore castles, stroll through old Venetian towns, discover colorful frescoes in tiny churches and make a personal connection between the food, the land and its people.
We have enjoyed our small groups so much that we will continue to keep numbers low and personal attention high. This tour will have a maximum of 14 to give a more intimate travel experience served up with a genuine, personal touch.
Tour leader our Taste Hungary colleague, Gabor
Highlights Include
• Engaging on a personal level with local wine makers in six different micro regions
• Getting your shoes dirty in the forests as you follow truffle-hunting dogs for your next meal
• Indulging your sweet tooth with Slovenian ‘potica’ cakes, honey ice cream and hand made chocolate truffles
• Enjoying the secluded view down to the Adriatic Sea from your hotel and Michelin starred restaurant
• Savoring gourmet goat cheeses, olive oils, prosciutto and handmade pasta in Croatia’s Istria gourmet region
• Soaking in the atmosphere at a converted 13th century chateau with sparkling wine tastings
• Discovering the nutty flavor of pumpkin seed oil and other local treats off the beaten path in eastern Slovenia’s eastern ‘chicken-head’ region
• Getting more than your fill of traditional home-cooked meals and local spirits at rustic, countryside eateries
Day One
Overnight: Vipava Valley, Slovenia
Introduction to Slovenian Wines
Overview of Slovenian history, wine making and geography AND intro to Vipava Valley’s predominantly white wines (Pinela, Zelen and Malvazija) at Lepa Vida winery. Afternoon to enjoy having your hotel room in the middle of a peaceful forest. Extravagant and imaginative welcome dinner at Zemono restaurant, a one-star Michelin restaurant and Gault & Millau pick for Slovenia’s top eatery.
Next Day
Day Two
Overnight: Vipava Valley, Slovenia
Bio wines, bunker cheese and Habsburg dinner
Visit to biodynamic/organic wine maker, Burja, named after the strong wind of the region that makes the air-dried prosciutto so delicious. Explore Italian-built bunkers from the 1920’s that now house some seriously yummy cheeses. Go back in time and dine like royalty at a restaurant in Italy which cooks up dishes from the Habsburgs.
Next Day
Day Three
Overnight: Vipava Valley, Slovenia
Dry sparkling and macerated wines
Start the day at Bjana, home to Slovenia’s best sparkling wines and a tour that includes region’s oldest cellar (over 800 years old). Five course lunch paired with macerated/orange wines including Tokaj Friuliano, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc all made with long skin contact. Walk off lunch in a cute town in the region that used to be the border between Venetian and Austrian empires. Chill time in the forest before dinner right next to your hotel.
Next Day
Day Four
Overnight: Ptuj, Slovenia
Farmhouse lunch and Slovenia’s oldest town
We head east towards Slovenia’s oldest town of Ptuj. Unforgettable lunch and wine pairings at a rustic farmhouse in a tiny village. Guided tour of Ptuj including the castle which houses colorful and strange costumes Slovenes use during their carnival ! Gin tasting and dinner in the old town.
Next Day
Day Five
Overnight: Ptuj, Slovenia
Eating our way through the ‘chicken head’ of Slovenia
Discover the flavors of of what is affectionately known as the ‘chicken head’ of the country in the Prekmurje region. Start things off with some 360 degree views and sparkling wines at Doppler winery. Then learn all about the delicious nutty and smokey taste of pumpkin seed oil, the ubiquitous speciality of the region. Meet a young Slovenian couple producing amazing chocolates, marmalades, and fruit juices. Their chocolate pralines feature very local items like Traminer grapes, pumpkin oil, dried pears and elderflower.
Dinner at family-run Gostilna Rajh that serves up quintessential dishes such as bograc, a spicier, thicker cousin to goulash, and gibanica, a multi-layered cake which seemingly has every ingredient packed into it.
Next Day
Day Six
Overnight: Kvarner region, Croatia
First taste of Croatia
Depart Slovenia and cross over into Croatia. Explore the oft-overlooked Plešivica region of north-central Croatia, and enjoy their sparkling wines and some great duck for lunch.
Chill out with fantastic views down to the sea at our secluded hotel perched up on Mt. Ucka near the Bay of Kvarner. Relax with your favorite wine and watch the sun go down over the Adriatic or take an easy walk to waterfalls through a quiet chestnut grove. Four course seafood dinner in an elegant one-star Michelin restaurant, Draga di Lovrana.
Next Day
Day Seven
Overnight: Istria region, Croatia
Truffles and honey
We head through a tunnel in Mt. Ucka that leads us to Croatia’s Istria region. Visit the charming hill town of Motovun with glorious views all around. Then we ead to the forests with a local woman and her dogs to sniff out and dig up truffles. Hopefully we will find some truffles but regardless there will be a special truffle-themed lunch.
Get your taste buds ready for a wholly unique pairings of honey and wine – served as one spoonful together – from a great central Istrian winemaker who also keeps bees. Check into our lodgings in the small, quiet medieval town of Bale. Go full Balkans with a wonderful dinner of Macedonian specialities.
Next Day
Day Eight
Overnight: Istria region, Croatia
Roman ruins and goat cheese
Relax in the morning or explore and shop the beautiful coastal city of Rovinj. Then it is off to the largest Roman arena outside of Italy in the city of Pula. Guided tour of arena and rest of the city which has layers of Roman, Venetian, Austrian and Yugoslav history.
Epic goat cheese feast at Kumparicka farm that is far off the tourist grid with home cooked stews, soups and tasty surprises, not to mention about a dozen types of soft and semi-hard goat cheeses to go with hot-out-of-the-oven bread. Consistently one of our guests’ favorite experiences on any of tours! Later afternoon visit to historic Venetian town of Rovinj, Croatia’s most beautiful seaside town. Enjoy a light dinner or night cap on your own.
Next Day
Day Nine
Overnight: Karst region, Slovenia
Organic olives and zero km food
Cross back into Slovenia to learn about organic farming and olive oil production at an olive farm situated on the Adriatic with views down to 14th century Venetian salt flats. Tour of farm followed by a beautiful lunch of all eco certified products. Visit to gorgeous little seaside town of Piran.
Next Day
Day Ten
Overnight: Karst region, Slovenia
Caves, Hill towns and Teran wines from the Karst
Tour of UNESCO protected Skocjan caves, an amazing underground world featuring Europe’s deepest underground canyon. Visit to hill town of Stanjel in the Karst region, a region dominated by prosciutto, bold red Teran wines, caves and stone houses.
Tasting of the region’s most recognized wine, Teran (fresh, aged and barrique styles) and Vitovska (indigenous white of the Karst) at CV winery. Farewell dinner at this winery.
Day Eleven
The tour is over after breakfast. Your guide will assist you with departures if needed.
Price: $4850 (Air not included). Single Supplement is $850. We welcome singles and if you do not have a travel partner, please sign up for a single spot. In the event that a roommate is found, your booking can be changed to a double before final payment is due.
You can secure your spot with a nonrefundable deposit of $600.
Tour price includes 10 dinners (wine included), 8 lunches, 10 nights lodging at B&B and farmhouses (en-suite), 10 wine tastings, tastings of olive oil, honey, pumpkin oil and truffles, transport, private guide, transfers to/from airport.
Tour begins 10am, morning of October 10th. Pick up can be from Ljubljana hotel or train station. Airport LJU.
Tour ends morning of October 20th, 90 minutes from Ljubljana Airport and 30 minutes from Trieste, Italy. We can arrange transfers to LJU airport or help you with onward journey to Italy.
Terms and Conditions – Adventures with Sarah
Email info@adventureswithsarah.net with any questions.