Doppler Winery

Female-led, Doppler is a small estate making very pure wines in Northeast Slovenia.

At the end of a steep lane in the far north of Slovenia, only 5 km from the Austrian border is the Doppler Winery. It’s a strikingly modern structure with clean lines of concrete, expanses of glass giving panoramic views and the fermentation and maturation areas buried within the hilltop. At over 1000 feet above sea levels, it looks over the Pesnica Valley and the Sentilj Hills at the tail-end of the Alps.

Mihaela Kopse runs the estate, and it was her grandfather, Ivan Doppler, who bought it in 1938, though winemaking origins here go all the way back to 1816. Mihaela took over from her mother, but she credits her grandfather with teaching her a lot. He died at the age of 92, but not before his wedding ring was returned from Germany, many years after he was held in Dachau concentration camp. The ring features on one of their wine labels. Mihaela works with her three daughters: Lina, Lena and Lana, so there is a strong line of female succession here.

The vineyards extend to 9 ha on clay/limestone soils. With 2000 sunshine hours and 1000 mm of rain per year, there are large night and day temperature variations that lead to bright fruit flavours. Mihaela and her daughters are committed to nature and respect for traditions. They converted to organic in 2021 so will shortly be certified, though in actual fact they haven’t used pesticides for nine years.