In Slovenia there’s plenty of winemakers with eco label, but there’s just a handful that you can be absolutely certain they don’t take any shortcuts.
Zorjan, a policeman turned natural winemaker, is one of them. Set in Pohorje, in Styria, where the rolling hills meet the deep forest, he started making amphora wine way back in the 80s, then gradually became more radical and is now a firm believer you cannot be a biodynamical producer if you don’t have animals on the farm - he has sheep and deer -, if you don’t grow your own produce and make your own concoctions to treat the vines with. And one of his vineyards is in the middle of the forest when he tried to prove the nay-sayers you in fact can grow vines there. His wine cellar is a 300-year-old offspring of nearby Žička kartuzija abbey and his wines are pure, unrefined gold.