Domaine Vicomte de Noüe-Marinič

Approaching wine in Kojsko means reading the hills before reading a label. Goriška Brda’s vineyards rise and fold near the Italian border, and the region’s ponca marl-flysch soils have become shorthand for whites with line, grip and mineral tension rather than sheer ripeness. Domaine Vicomte de Noüe-Marinič belongs to that conversation: a boutique Brda estate whose identity is tied less to cellar spectacle than to slope, soil and the patient sorting of parcels.

The estate sits in the contemporary Slovenian shift toward fine-wine precision without abandoning local texture. Brda has long had the climate and hillside exposure to make serious wine; the newer question is how producers position those wines for drinkers accustomed to Burgundy, Friuli and Collio reference points. Here, the Franco-Slovene partnership matters as context. The de Noüe family’s Burgundian link and the Marinič family’s Brda footing give the project a cross-border grammar, while the wines remain anchored in Goriška Brda rather than styled as replicas of somewhere else.

Ponca soils and classified parcels set the tone

The defining feature is scale used for selection rather than mass-market anonymity. The estate is associated with 140 hectares under cultivation, large by regional standards, yet its public portfolio is structured around tiers and classified sites: a Marinič line, an Érigone line, and wines carrying the Domaine Vicomte de Noüe-Marinič name from premier-cru-style vineyard parcels. That hierarchy signals an ambition familiar to Burgundy drinkers, but the raw material is Brda: terraced slopes, marl-flysch soil, warm days and cooling evening influence across the hills.

Grape mix also explains the estate’s range. Chardonnay, Malvasia, Pinot Grigio, Pinot noir and Sauvignon appear in the portfolio, with still white, red and rosé styles. Named bottlings in public critic and trade listings include Malvasia Érigone Zala Locca III Cru, Attico San Pietro III Cru Chardonnay, Sotto La Chiesa 2e and Erigone Refosco 1er Cru Gaugnaz. The point is not a single hero bottle; it is the attempt to map site distinction across varieties that can carry both Alpine-Adriatic freshness and Mediterranean breadth.

Production choices reinforce that reading. The estate is associated with sustainable agriculture, natural yeasts, hand harvesting, gentle pressing and extended élevage. White wines have been described with 18 months in stainless steel, while some Chardonnay cuvées may spend time in Domaine Leflaive barrels before finishing in steel; a Refosco has been described with 24 months in stainless steel. Those details matter because they resist the easy shorthand of oak-led ambition. The stated direction is controlled extraction, long finishing and a low-intervention approach that keeps the vineyard in the foreground.

Recognition is building around specific wines, not trophy volume

Slovenian fine wine does not need another generic claim of discovery; it needs bottle-by-bottle evidence. The recognition here is specific. Falstaff scored the 2020 Malvasia Érigone Zala Locca III Cru at 91 points, noting rosemary, lemon balm, tropical fruit, white peach and a chalky finish. Decanter World Wine Awards 2025 awarded Silver and 91 points to the 2022 Attico San Pietro III Cru, a Chardonnay from Vipavska Dolina/Primorska, with citrus, green apricot, spice and white stone fruit in the note. These are useful signals because they attach the estate’s ambition to individual wines rather than vague prestige language.

The opening date also matters. A 2020 launch places Domaine Vicomte de Noüe-Marinič among the younger Brda projects trying to reframe regional wine for a more international cellar audience. That youth cuts both ways: there is not yet the long archive of mature vintages that established collectors use to judge consistency, but the early critic attention suggests a producer worth tracking through subsequent releases. For drinkers already interested in the Adriatic side of the Alps, the appeal is clear: familiar fine-wine cues, local soils, and a portfolio that treats Brda as more than a scenic backdrop.

How to fold Kojsko into a wine-focused trip

This is a quieter, appointment-led winery experience rather than a casual drop-in circuit built around food pairings or broad public hospitality. The mood is smart, restrained and vineyard-focused, better suited to drinkers who want to understand site, grape and élevage than to travellers looking for a loud social tasting. Cellar-door sales are part of the offer, and the experience tags point toward estate grounds, vineyard tours and private tastings, which makes the visit more rewarding when treated as a focused wine stop rather than a quick detour.

Kojsko works well as a base for exploring Brda’s wine culture because the village puts the vineyards at the centre of the itinerary. For more local planning, see our full Kojsko wineries guide, alongside our full Kojsko restaurants guide, our full Kojsko hotels guide, our full Kojsko bars guide and our full Kojsko experiences guide. Travellers building a broader wine route can also look at Ferdinand Winery, Atelier Kramar in Dobrovo, Batič in Sempas, Bjana in Biljana, Blažič in Dobrovo v Brdih, Burja in Podnanos, Conrad Fürst & Söhne in Ptuj, DOLFO Winery in Berjac, »der Steiner« Hans Steiner in Podersdorf am See and & Handwein in Mannheim.