Cotar
The winery Branco & Vasja Cotar is located a few kilometers from the Italian border in the small village of Gorjansko, in the Slovenian Karst. The Cotar family ran a tavern in the small village in the 1970s where, along with local foods, they served the wine they produced from the grapes of their small vineyard: the Teran (Terrano) and a white (Krasko belo). The business thrived, but with the profits, the demand for wine also increased, so Branko Cotar decided to dedicate himself to winemaking full-time, limiting his commitment to the tavern to important lunches by reservation only.
The first bottles produced for sale came out of the cellar in 1990 (from the 1988 harvest) and immediately had great success. Branko, assisted by his son Vasja, cultivates a vineyard of 7.5 hectares divided into eight different plots; the microclimate of the region is windy but mild, characterized by the Mornik, blowing from the sea, and the Bora, blowing from the North, which is very favorable for viticulture and facilitates the full ripening of the clusters of the many grape varieties planted in the vineyard.
The production The wine is divided into two lines: Drazna and Cotar, which differ only in that the latter undergoes a longer aging process. A unique feature in the wine world, all labels, designed by Marijan Mocivnih, bear the fingerprints of Branko and Vasja: a kind of signature of quality assurance. The flagship of the winery is the Vitovska, a rocky and elegant white wine, which encompasses all the aromas and flavors of the red earth of the Carso.
The winery Branco & Vasja Cotar is located a few kilometers from the Italian border in the small village of Gorjansko, in the Slovenian Karst. The Cotar family ran a tavern in the small village in the 1970s where, along with local foods, they served the wine they produced from the grapes of their small vineyard: the Teran (Terrano) and a white (Krasko belo). The business thrived, but with the profits, the demand for wine also increased, so Branko Cotar decided to dedicate himself to winemaking full-time, limiting his commitment to the tavern to important lunches by reservation only.
The first bottles produced for sale came out of the cellar in 1990 (from the 1988 harvest) and immediately had great success. Branko, assisted by his son Vasja, cultivates a vineyard of 7.5 hectares divided into eight different plots; the microclimate of the region is windy but mild, characterized by the Mornik, blowing from the sea, and the Bora, blowing from the North, which is very favorable for viticulture and facilitates the full ripening of the clusters of the many grape varieties planted in the vineyard.
The production The wine is divided into two lines: Drazna and Cotar, which differ only in that the latter undergoes a longer aging process. A unique feature in the wine world, all labels, designed by Marijan Mocivnih, bear the fingerprints of Branko and Vasja: a kind of signature of quality assurance. The flagship of the winery is the Vitovska, a rocky and elegant white wine, which encompasses all the aromas and flavors of the red earth of the Carso.
