Slovenia: Šuklje, taking Blaufränkisch to new levels in Bela Krajina
Slovenia’s eastern region of Bela Krajina (pronounced ‘bella cry-ner’) is small and beautiful. The vineyards blend into the landscape, with abundant woodland, lots of small mixed agriculture, and then mostly small plots of vines. Many of them are attached to small weekend houses, where the owners come down and tend their vines as a rural leisure experience.
Back in May 2022 I began my Slovenian journey by visiting the region’s most visible winery, Šuklje (pronounced ‘shook-eee-yay’). The modern history of Šuklje begins when Guillaume Antalick, a tall French guy with a PhD in enology from Bordeaux University heads to do a post-doc in Stellenbosch, South Africa. There he meets Katje Šuklje whose parents Jože and Tatjana have a vineyard and winery in Metlika. The two fall in love and end up going to Australia to work together at Wagga Wagga (Charles Sturt University). Eventually, they moved back to Metlika and took jobs with local research institutes, but also got involved with Katja’s family winery, at the same time as beginning a family together.
The slightly warmer, more continental climate here in the east of the country means that red wines predominate, and it’s Blaufrankisch, known here as Modra Frankinja, that is the key variety. Of the region’s 400 hectares, 120 are Blaufrankisch.
Since 2016, Guillaume, Katja and her brother Matija have taken this winery to a new level, working on the vineyards (no herbicides are used and they are on the conversion path to organics) and also using their scientific expertise in the winery. They have also begun a planting project, too.
I caught up with Guillaume in March 2025 to taste through the new releases. Since May 2022 a few things have changed. They have planted more vineyards, so they have almost 8 hectares of vines. They planted more Pinot Noir, and the Chardonnay is now producing. They have also planted a bit more Modra Frankijna. Everything they have planted is on the Plešivica hill.
Šuklje Belo 140 2023 Bela Krajina, Slovenia
A challenging year with lots of rain at veraison and many regions with some hail, too. A blend of 80% Kerner and 20% Riesling. Fermentation starts in stainless steel then it completes in barrel. This is lively and intense with a fine spicy underpinning to the really attractive floral citrus fruit with purity and finesse. Supple and expressive with an amazing mouthfeel and a twist of white pepper. Very stylish. 93/100
Šuklje Projekt Chardonnay 2023 Bela Krajina, Slovenia
This was planted in 2020 and is the first year they have made this from their own fruit. Mix of 500 litre and 225 litre barrel. Linear and quite focused with white peach and pear fruit with some spiciness around the fringes. Juicy and supple with bright lemons and slight nutty structure. Pure and well balanced with a nice spicy finish. 93/100
Šuklje Lozice 2023 Bela Krajina, Slovenia
This is from Plesivica. This is bright and fruit driven with some subtle notes of tea and dried herbs (bayleaf and sage) as well as lemon and pear fruit. There’s some almond and table grape character. This is open and expressive with some celery salt alongside the yellow plum and lemon fruit. Not super-concentrated but lovely flavours. 92/100
Šuklje Projekt Noir 2022 Bela Krajina, Slovenia
14% alcohol. They planted Pinot Noir in 2017, and made two barrels in 2019. 2020 was their first proper vintage. This was an early, warm vintage. This is the first year when they were able to pick when they wanted. Pinot is sensitive to shrivelling and this had happened in the previous years. 115 and 777. This is impressive: bold and fruit driven with a sweet cherry and raspberry fruit core and some nice directness. There’s some silkiness but also some grainy quality. Fruit driven but with some spicy complexity. Juicy. Finishes a bit short and compact, but there’s really nice direct fruit here. 93/100
Modra Frankinja
Šuklje Modra Frankinja 2022 Bela Krajina, Slovenia
13.5% alcohol. 8-10 days maceration, all destemmed. Aged partly in stainless steel to lose the tartartic acid faster (when it’s cold in the winter you get tartrate precipitating out). Fresh floral nose with bright black cherry fruit and a hint of green. The palate is pure and linear with good acidity and juicy cherry and plum fruit. Has a mass of direct, sweet fruit but also some good acidity and a bit of structure. Such a nice bright, direct personality with lovely fruit intensity. Vibrant. 92/100
Šuklje Lodoma 2022 Bela Krajina, Slovenia
13.5% alcohol. This is a village wine. Selection of the three sites: Plesivica, Lokvica and Doma. 20 days maceration (Guillaume thinks Frankijna needs long, soft maceration). Aged in used small oak. Floral and expressive with lovely concentrated raspberry and cherry fruit with good structure, but the structure (from both tannins and acidity) is really well integrated and there’s robustness allied to finesse. Very fine and expressive. Great energy. 94/100
Šuklje Vrbanjka 2021 Bela Krajina, Slovenia
Destemmed but don’t crush, looking for a long soft extraction. Mostly used oak with maybe a new 500 litre barrel. Complex nose with a hint of chocolate and coffee as well as direct, pure raspberry and cherry fruit. Linear with good structure to the vibrant red fruits, with some spicy detail around the fringes. This is so expressive with no rough edges, but plenty of verticality. 95/100
Šuklje Vrbankja 2022 Bela Krajina, Slovenia
This year they removed the steepest part of the vineyard to make a new wine, Svila. So stylish and elegant, but also quite powerful and well structured, with a lovely silky mid-palate and bright black cherries and plums. Vivid and refined. There’s some spicy, chocolatey character fringing the direct fruit, too. Nice tannins on the finish. 95/100
Šuklje Vrbankja ‘Svila’ 2022 Bela Krajina, Slovenia
Just one new 500 litre barrel made from the steepest part of the vineyard with more limestone. There’s a spicy chocolately edge to the black fruits on the nose, and then the palate is amazing with some hints of spice and tar but also bold, ripe but well defined black cherry and blackberry fruit. There’s some oak here, but it fits in well. Such a fine expression of Blaufränkisch. Very fine and expressive. 96/100
Šuklje Single Plot Reber-Lokvica 2022 Bela Krajina, Slovenia
Before blending, Guillaume bottles 12 bottles from each plot for the sake of discussing the effect of soils on Blaufränkisch. 100% clay. This has open, bright raspberry and cherry fruit with nice tannins. It’s linear and focused with some freshness and directness. Juicier and lively. Lots of treble. Tangy.
Šuklje Single Plot Doma-Trnovec 2022 Bela Krajina, Slovenia
Clay with some limestone. There’s more focus and fresher acidity here with a direct, pure line to the fruit. A little tighter and more compact, finishing fresh and juicy. Quite serious, with more linear fruit and more black fruits with nice precision.
Šuklje Single Plot Plesivica 2022 Bela Krajina, Slovenia
Lots of limestone and some sandy clay. More volume and density here with freshness and brightness. Nice vibrant structure with good tannins as well as bright acidity. Has a linear flow with nice fruit intensity. More black fruit than red. There’s another dimension to this wine. The silkiness of the tannins is increased by the extra limestone here.
