On the steep, sunny slope of the Čaven, above the village of Kamnje, the Svetliks have planted a vineyard of the Rebula (Ribolla Gialla) grape variety. Here, in the midst of the vineyards, Ivi and Edvard Svetlik are writing a new chapter in the story of their lives. The small village of Kamnje is located in the Vipava Valley, a picturesque Slovenian wine-growing region just over an hour's drive from Venice. The sub-Mediterranean climate of the Vipava Valley is conducive to wine growing. The charming vineyard draws strength from its extremely sunny position as one of the highest vineyards in the Vipava Valley. The aromatic richness of Rebula (Ribolla), an autochthonous grape variety that thrives both in the Vipava Valley and in Brda (Collio), proves that the location of the Rebula-Svetlik vineyard is ideal. The couple produces only 6,000 bottles from 8,000 vines.
The grape harvest is a festive day when the Svetliks and their friends hand-pick the grapes they have tended all summer and into late autumn. The grapes turn an attractive amber colour and are aged for two years in large oak barrels before being bottled unfiltered.
A speciality is the Rebula Maximilian I, aged in barrels made from 354 old oak trees from King Louis XIV's forest and bottled in honour of Emperor Maximilian I. As early as 1503, the Habsburg monarchy had Rebula from the Vipava Valley delivered directly to the imperial court. Rebula Svetlik is not only amber in colour but also rich in aromas, minerals and complexity. It should be served at a temperature of 15 degrees Celsius in a generous red wine glass to reveal all its complexity of flavour and aroma.
