VITICULTURE COLLECTION

The Semič wine hills enabled many generations of our ancestors to gain revenue and make a living, which makes them a significant part of the local tradition. The VITICULTURE COLLECTION includes implements that were formerly used by Semič residents in their vineyards and vineyard cottages. These are of course predominately wooden or metal, as they predate plastics. An item that particularly stands out from the rest is a wooden wine press alongside a few handmade wooden vessels the likes of which appeared among every wine cottage’s amenities.

Peruse the collection and learn what a keblíca is, and what a čebríca; then take a look at the málenca, which is indispensable in the wine-making process. The display case also contains a bottle for the white Burgundy wine which was made by the last owner of the castle on the Krupa River, merchant and landowner Josip Zurc. He and his wife Ivanka Avsenik Zurc were persons of standing in the 1930s-era Semič.

There is also an interesting display of photographs of old vineyard cottages, mostly built from rock and wood, and covered by a thatched roof. Unfortunately, only a few such houses remain standing today. Some were built by the Kočevje Germans, who diligently cultivated vineyards on Semiška gora for several centuries. This so-called Gottscheer German speaking population also practised woodworking; making various high-quality wooden vessels was an important source of income for them. The influence of the Gottscheer culture in Semič remains detectable today, for example in the appearance of German last names among the local population.   

The exhibition concludes in a pleasant wine-tasting room where groups can pre-book tastings of wines not only from Semič, but also the rest of Bela krajina.