Ribolla and olive oil festival

I spent an amazing day with my parents at Rebula and olive oil festival. Despite the rainy weekend, quite a few people gathered in small Brda village called Višnjevik, surrounded by olive groves.

Every year Višnjevik hosts a traditional Festival of Rebula and olive oil. Golden rebula or treasure of Brda, as the locals name it, was firstly mentioned in a document dated in 1336, in which it has been written that Henrik from a nearby mansion Rittersberg bought the vineyard on 27th May 1336, and produced six buckets of rebula every year. Moreover, the Austrian oenological Congress in Gorizia carried out in 1891, described “rebula” far and wide and mentioned evola or more properly helvola rebula’s predecessor from the Roman times. Rebula, aristocrat among wines, is the perfect accompaniment to seafood. Rebula also has its queen, who is responsible for the promotion of wine growing and wine making in Brda region with an emphasis on rebula from Brda wine district as an attractive tourist destination, while also raising the culture of wine drinking. Queen of rebula is keeping glasses of wine lovers full with Queen’s wine on all protocol ocassions. Alongside Rebula, which is the most important grape variety in Brda, we can put quality Brda olive oil. Goriška Brda are located at the extreme northern weather zone where the olive trees may still thrive. Currently, the most common among them are Belica and Briška črnica.

Growing olive trees in Brda region became extinct after the great frost of 1929, but in the village Višnjevik, Gradno, Slavče and Hlevnik they have continued to cultivate branchlets grown from stumps after the frost. Locals from Brda have started to focus more intensely on the planting of olive trees. Today there are more than 120 hectares of olive groves, which are even more widespread from year to year. There is always a seat for you in my car so jump into the car!