We are very excited to return the favor to Jure Stekar here in Salt Lake City. Becky and I had an opportunity in January to visit and stay at Jure's beautiful vineyard and winery.

The Štekar family with humble beginnings in the Goriska Brda zone of Slovenia back in 1985, when Roman Štekar began the winery alongside a small agriturismo. Today, his son Jure runs this lovely natural winery in the stunning hills of western Slovenia, being at least the 4th generation of winemakers but with family history dating back on the property to the 1700's. Originally, they were farmers for a nearby cooperative until the cellar took form, and now they are dedicated to the best fruit they can grow; farming 11 hectares of vines nestled within another 22 hectares of cherry orchards and forest. In 2006, the winery received its organic certification, showing further their commitment to low-impact start-to-finish wine making which they have supported since the beginning. the vines are the most important factor that lead to the incredible depth of Jure's skin-fermented range, and are the only part of the process that ever sees any sulfite use, and the rest of the process is handling the perfect grapes in the most natural way possible.

A wide range in types of woods and their sizes are the predominant vessels in the cellar for natural fermentations as well as aging for development. With no filtration or fining, the Štekar wines result as pure expression of the local varieties with a soft and delicious approach, making for incredible natural skin-contact wines in the region that is possibly most famous for the category.