From the atlas
Kmetija Štekar
Kmetija Štekar works family vineyards at Kojsko in Brda, using long macerations and spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts.
At A Glance
| Field | Detail |
| Region | Brda, on the Slovenian side of Collio |
| Village | Kojsko |
| Grapes | Rebula, Pinot Grigio and Malvasia |
| Wines | Pinot Draga, Rebula Prilo, Re Piko, Rebula, Malvasia and Brajda |
| Defining practice | Long macerations and spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts |
The Producer
At Kojsko in Brda, Janko and Tamara Štekar tend vineyards that have belonged to the Štekar family for many generations. The wines use long macerations and spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts, practices that give white grapes extended contact with their skins and allow fermentation to begin without added cultured yeast.
The range includes Pinot Draga, Rebula Prilo, Re Piko, Rebula, Malvasia and Brajda. Several wines place skin contact at the centre of their cellar work, while the individual bottles show different durations and ageing vessels.
Place
Kmetija Štekar is located at Kojsko in Brda, on the Slovenian side of Collio. The place is tied to a local tradition of prolonged macerations and spontaneous fermentations with indigenous yeasts.
Soil And Site
The vineyards lie at an average altitude of 180 metres, with south and southwest exposures. These orientations give the vines direct sunlight through the growing season. Vineyard work avoids synthetic chemical products, using organic treatments and plant macerates when needed.
Story
Janko Štekar moved the vineyard work toward organic cultivation in the late 1990s after becoming increasingly aware of intensive agriculture's effects on nature and health. The change is visible in the treatment of the vines: synthetic chemical products are absent, while organic treatments and plant macerates are used when needed.
Janko and Tamara now tend the family vineyards together. In the cellar, long macerations and spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts carry the farming choice into the wines.
Vineyards And Cellar
Janko and Tamara tend about six hectares of family vineyards. The cellar uses spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts and long macerations. Skin contact leaves grape juice with its skins for a period of time, extracting colour, tannin and aroma before the wine is separated from the solid material.
Pinot Draga 2017 was fermented in steel, bottled unfiltered and given minimal sulfur dioxide. The method keeps the wine close to its fermented grape material, with no filtration removing suspended particles before bottling.
Wines
The range includes Pinot Draga, Rebula Prilo, Re Piko, Rebula, Malvasia and Brajda. Rebula 2025 receives 24 hours of skin contact and is aged exclusively in stainless steel. Rebula Prilo 2017 takes 26 days on its skins and six years in acacia barrels, giving the range a bottle with much longer cellar élevage than the stainless steel Rebula.
Sivi is a spontaneously fermented Pinot Grigio with brief skin contact. Together, these wines move from short maceration and steel ageing to extended skin contact and long barrel maturation.
In The Glass
Sivi shows almond paste, saline notes, yellow fruit jam and dried fruit on the nose. Freshness and drinkability sit alongside a substantial palate, giving the wine both ease and weight.
Rebula Prilo brings caramelized orange peel, amber, ginger, tobacco leaves and aromatic herbs. Its marked acidity and salinity are joined by evident tannin, while the finish becomes softer as the wine leaves the palate.
A Bottle To Understand It
Pinot Draga 2017 is the bottle to open first. It is pure Pinot Grigio, fermented spontaneously with indigenous yeasts in steel and macerated on the skins for about 20 days. The lot produced 1,600 bottles, and the wine was bottled unfiltered with minimal sulfur dioxide.
Its aromas of candied fruit, citrus, apricot, ginger and cherries in spirit make the grape and skin contact immediately concrete. The palate is fresh and savory, showing how Štekar combines a white grape with extended contact and low intervention cellar work.
Anecdote
In the early 1990s, Janko Štekar decided to process all the grapes himself, sell the wine under the Kmetija Štekar name and expand the vineyards. The decision placed the farm name on the bottles while the vineyard holdings grew. The family winegrowing story marked by 1672 now extends to Janko as its tenth generation. The label carries that family name alongside wines made from Rebula, Pinot Grigio and other grapes named in the range.
Final Word
Kmetija Štekar connects Kojsko vineyards with Rebula and Pinot Grigio, long skin macerations and spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts. The wines keep those cellar choices visible through texture, acidity, tannin and extended ageing.
Sources
1. https://www.rollingwine.com/en/producers/333-stekar-kmetija.html 2. https://www.vinnatur.org/en/soci/kmetija-stekar/ 3. https://www.dnevnik.si/nedeljski/kulinarika/zacinjeno/janko-stekar-vinogradnik-in-vinar-vino-je-moja-osnovna-ljubezen-2763561/ 4. https://wineyou.it/it/vini-bianchi/1418-sivi-2023-kmetija-stekar.html 5. https://wineyou.it/en/white-wines/344-stekar-rebula-2025-kmetija-stekar.html 6. https://wineyou.it/en/white-wines/1295-pinot-draga-2017-kmetija-stekar.html 7. https://wineyou.it/en/white-wines/1800-rebula-prilo-2017-kmetija-stekar.html