Testimony of Daniela Markovic

“I am a graduate of the School for Viticulture and Enology of the University of Nova Gorica and I was really happy with my choice of studies. Small study groups allowed our professors to have an individual approach towards us students.
The study programme covers both theory and practice, as the professional fields of viticulture and enology in fact require. Practical activities were distributed throughout the year and took place in the university’s estate in Manče: everything form winter pruning … to harvesting.

We performed our practical placements also in the other three wine districts of the Primorska Wine-Growing Region; in Slovenian Istria I spent my practical placement period at the Brič Estate at the Slovenian-Croatian border, above the Dragonja Landscape Park. Their wine cellar is one of the hundred most beautiful wine cellars in the workd and I really enjoyed working there. In the Goriška Brda Wine District, I performed my practical placement at the Goriška Brda Wine Cellar in Dobrovo, where we worked on the analyses of wine in the laboratories. I also had the opportunity to cooperate with the cellar’s head enologist Mr Darinko Ribolica and I participated in many wine tasting events and the Pikolit pressing procedure. In the Karst Wine District I took my practical placement at the Lupinc Estate.

I really liked the fact that we had so many workshops and wine tasting events, and we actually organised quite a lot of them, too, and we always did our best to prepare something new and interesting. We had an excursion to various places all over Slovenia for a couple of days and took an active part in the organisation of the annual Students’ Wine Festivals of the School for Viticulture and Enology.

My Erasmus+ exchange in France was also a great experience. Besides following lectures at the host university, we and the French students also had study visits to various estates all over the Beaujolais Region.

The studies were also demanding, as I was fully employed and I could not attend every single lesture, although the School had adapted the schedules as much as possible. The daily commuting from my home in Oslavia/Oslavje (Italy) was tiring, too, but despite everythinh I managed to complete my studies successfully.

I met colleagues from all over Slovenia and alsostudents from the neighbouring Italian region, where the Slovenian minority lives – from Trieste, for example, and we have been in touch with some of them ever since.

I was informed about the study opportunity at the School for Viticulture and Enology from my friend and renowned enologist Primož Lavrenčič, who was at that time employed at this School, and whose wines I adore. When he once told me that he actually worked at the school, I replied that I would enroll to this school to learn how to produce wines similar to his. And I did inquire about the admission to the study programme Viticulture and Enology, I enrolled … and also obtained a degree!”

Daniela Markovic, Italy 🇮🇹, BSc graduate of the School for Viticulture and Enology, University of Nova Gorica

Academic year 2019/20