Bela Krajina begins on the southern slopes of the Gorjanci range, the last of the alpine foothills that descend into the flat divide between the Alps and the Dinaric backbone of the Balkans. The flatlands of Bela Krajina are quite similar to those of the Kras area, but most of the area's viticultural sites are on the southern or southwestern slopes of rounded hills, mostly around 350 meters (1,150 ft.) above sea level. The area's soils where most of the vineyards are planted are predominantly marly loam and loess moderately rich in organic compounds, the product of decaying Cretaceous and Jurassic limestone.
This is a climatically mixed area: It experiences both Mediterranean and Pannonian influences; the foehn wind brings warm and humid air from the Adriatic sea. Spring comes very early, summers are very hot but may be interrupted by spells of rain and cooler weather, and winters tend to be generous with snow and quite cold.
Vineyards are mostly vertical, and the space between rows of vines is only rarely weeded. On lower slopes where the karst characteristics of the soil are more in evidence, the soil contains limestone fragments and frequently even large rocks which must be removed; in some cases, vineyards are simply planted around them.
The most widely known wines of the area are blends, the most famous being Metliska Crnina - traditionally a blend of Modra Frankinja, Modra Portugalka Zametna Crnina, and Sentlovrenka - rich in extract and velvety. A somewhat less macerated variety of the same ingredients blends into a lighter, lively wine that does not require aging.
Selected varieties of Modra Portugalka and Sentlovrenka produce a light, gentle red wine that should be consumed young.
Belokranjski rosé is a dry rosé wine blended from Zametna Crnina and Modra Frankinja. Bela Krajina also produces some of the best Modri Pinot in Slovenia.
In the past, red grapes were predominant in the area, but in the last few decades white wines have been taking over the vineyards. Judging from the awards won by wines from Bela Krajina, local producers have been quite successful with Beli Pinot, Chardonnay, Sauvignon, Rumeni Muskat, and Renski Rizling - in fact, some connoisseurs prefer these white wines to their more prestigious equivalents from the Podravje region because of their more moderate acidity. White Belokranjcan, a dry blend of Kraljevina and Laski Rizling, is the best known white blend.
The first cooperative wine cellar in Bela Krajina, built in 1929 after much debate, was destroyed during World War II. A new cellar was built in 1950, and this is where the best wines of the area are archived. Metliska Crnina is the pride of the archive: two-liter bottles of the 1968 vintage are the oldest still saved in quantity. Late harvest Laski Rizling is also being archived, but most precious are the tiny, 0.375 liter (12.68 fl. oz.) bottles of 1985 Laski Rizling Ice Wine, regaled with numerous Grand Champion titles.
