Culinary experiences

Recommended part of the culinary journey From the Alps to the Hills of Zagorje

Best time to visit: April to October

Recommended prior activities: sampling dairy products, honey, juices or spirits at any of the neighbouring farms
Duration: about three hours or as per agreement

On arrival at the Gruska winery, you will be welcomed with home-made blueberry schnapps, a type of bread with cracklings called ocvirkača and dried meats (salami, cured sausages and Kozjansko želodec). Your host will take you on a short walk through the vineyards along a 500-metre panoramic path with a view extending to Boč, Donačka gora, Sveta gora and Strahinjščica and Sljeme in Croatia. The path is suitable for the elderly and children as well. You will be taken to see a 200-year-old vineyard cottage and a vineyard where grapevines are still planted as they were a hundred years ago. When you get back from the walk, you will be shown modern viticultural methods at the Mramor farm and learn interesting facts about growing grapes.

You will learn all about winegrowers and their grapevines, from vineyard to grape to wine – everything from pruning vines, ripening of grapes to making young wine.

If you wish, you can observe pruning in early spring, other green jobs in late spring and summer, as well as grape-picking in autumn. To participate in the latter, you must inform the farm by late August at the latest.

Your host will take you for wine tasting in the cellar, where you will sample three to six different varieties, after which selected local dishes will be served for lunch in a modified barn above the cellar.

Lunch consists of mushroom or beef soup, pork and free-range chickens roasted on an open fire, sauté potatoes, mlinci (flat bread), cheese štruklji (rolled dumplings) or Kozjansko carp and a salad from the farm’s vegetable garden. Wine and home-made grape juice will be served with lunch. And, of course, water from the farms own spring. Local accordionists will provide entertainment.

The price of this visit, including the welcome, guided tour, wine tasting, lunch and unlimited amount of drink is EUR 20 per person.

Minimum group size: 10 persons

The walk along the panoramic route and participation in vineyard tasks can be adapted to your wishes. For example, a warm meal (stew, goulash, segedin) can be served during grape-picking for an extra EUR 4 per person.

The hosts will be happy to cater to your needs and prepare other memorable experiences for your group. Your call and visit will be warmly received.