300 new bottles of champagne immersed into the Sava to ripen

For the third year in a row, 300 bottles of the Valvasor champagne have been immersed into the Sava river at Radeče. Foto: Goran Rovan

For the third consecutive year, 300 bottles of the Valvasor champagne have been immersed into the Sava river by the rafting centre at Radeče. The champagne will be left there to ripen on yeasts until the middle of next year, when it will be picked up from the river, as the Sava is too warm during summertime.

The Valvasor champagne, a product of Mastnak Wine Cellar, was produced from two types of wine, Chardonnay and Italian Riesling, and will mature in the Sava river at a stabile temperature of about 14 degrees Celsius. The bottles were immersed into the water on Thursday by cranes under the supervision of Zdravko Mastnak, the owner of the wine cellar from Orešje near Sevnica, Tomaž Režun, Mayor of Radeče, Matjaž Han, MP from Social Democrats, and Borut Florjančič, the director of the Sevnica Agricultural Cooperative.

The ritual has become traditional and receives quite some attention. Franc Bogovič, Slovenian MP in the European Parliament, Janja Sluga, MP of Modern Centre Party, Srečko Ocvirk, Mayor of Sevnica, Vojko Sotošek, CEO of Infra, and Janez Škrabec, CEO of Riko, the latter two both from local companies, were among the crowd of visitors who attended the event this year.

Janez Vajkard Valvasor, the 17th century historian and scientist, played by Sinjo Jezernik, held a ceremonious speech in his own special rhetoric. The audience, gathered on the pier by the Sava, also got to taste the Savus champagne as well as meat products of the Sevnica Agricultural Cooperative.

Oenologist Zdravko Mastnak explains the process of ripening champagne in the river: "With the stabile temperature that our [Slovenia's] longest river provides, this kind of champagne brings together three countries – Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia –, but first and foremost it maintains its freshness, youth, nobleness, lovely bubbles and, as is also our philosophy in terms of young champagne, it is drinkable and fresh, Its originality lies in the fact that everything that the Sava river brings stays on the bottle, we try to keep this on the bottle as original. It is also packed in this way, with all the silt, sand and other natural remains that stick to the bottle. One could say this is pure message from nature, given to us by the Sava river. We're talking about a small quantity, only 300 bottles, which usually end up with our friends and buyers, but it's also a lovely protocol gift, with a message attached as well as a certificate of origin."

G. R., TV Slovenija; translated by K. Z.