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Our biodynamic wines

At Santei family we take care of 30.000 vines and our beautiful biodynamic grapes are turned into Santei wines. All Santei wines are spontaneously fermented on grapes natural yeast and contain minimum sulphur levels. In line with the tradition we use skin contact in vinification, however, Santei wines are mostly characterised by freshness and liveliness, which is a signature of the special terroir of the Upper Branica, where Vipava hills meet the Karst region. This is our selection of Demeter certified wines. Santé!

About us

SANdra and MaTEI, we are SANTEI. Two foodies and wine-loving intellectuals, who gave up their director positions in multinational corporations, to become winemakers. In the beginning, there was a dream. Then, many ideas came. Followed by a clear vision, to combine the best terroir with our respect for the nature in order to offer wine-lovers a new, organic, natural and unforgettable wine experience. After that, the hard work began. Hard work that results in Santei wines and spirits. We are not looking for shortcuts. We are not looking for quick fixes. We are only interested in the best. We follow nature, we respect tradition. Our grapes and wines are certified organic and biodynamic. This is our path. Want to join? Cheers! Sante!

Purchase of the Santei estate

2008

Love. SANdra and MaTEI. Santei. A biologist and a mathematician. Corporate life. A sales director and a finance director. Deep love for nature and extreme passion for wine. And a need for a big life-change.

Maks joins Santei family

2012

Over the next 5 years, we completely renovated the Santei estate, including the 200-year old house. After Maks´s birth we moved to our farm. Our first red wine Santei merlot 2008 won a golden medal at the American Finger Lakes international wine competition.

Organic wine-making

2014

Organic and natural is the only right way. With strong respect for the nature, we grow almost 30.000 vines, with focus on local varieties.

Organic spirits and gin

2017

Organic spirits and organic gin Santei are distilled in a traditional way from our organic grapes and wine. All the herbs are handpicked at mount Nanos and in the Karst region and dried at Santei estate. Lavandula is grown in our organic garden.

Organic certified

2018

We follow the rules of nature. From 2018 all our grapes and wines are organically certified. In 2018 Sandra receives PhD degree. From 2019 we use biodynamic principles in our vineyards. Santei wine labels got a new look designed by a young Slovenian artist Matija Medved.

Demeter certified

2021

All our wines from 2021 vintage onwards are Demeter certified. We use light weight bottles and no plastic caps to help protect the environment and reduce CO2 emissions, as we strongly support sustainable agriculture. Our farm had become bigger in 2023. Along with 30.000 vines and almost 200 olive trees, we now have a flock of sheep, 2 sheep dogs, 4 hens and a biodynamic vegetable garden for our family´s needs.

Our Vineyards are laid in Vipava hills

The Santei estate is located in Vipava hills, the upper, rugged part of the Vipava Valley. Our vineyards are a part of the Upper Branica wine-growing sub-region, which is characterized by specific geo-climatic conditions that enable the production of premium wines. The Branica valley serves as the border between the Karst region and the Vipava Valley and encompasses the upper part of the Branica basin with the southern slopes of the Vipava hills. The ground is composed of the deposits of Eocene flysch, which is characterized by sequences of marlstone, sandy siltstone and coarse-grained carbonaceous sandstone, intertwined by thick and thin layers of breccias and conglomerates. The people from the Vipava region call this ideal wine-growing topsoil “soudan".

Upper Branica has a very specific location, because of the immediate vicinity of the Karst region, so the brown and white clay in the “soudan” mix with the red soil, typical of the Karst region. It is also characterized by lower temperatures. Our measurements show that the average temperatures are approximately 2 degrees lower than in the rest of the Upper Vipava Valley. This is the result of the Čipnje gorge limiting the inflow of warm Mediterranean air. The geo-climatic specifics of the Upper Branica valley allow the grapes to maintain the appropriate quantity of acids even when fully ripe, which contributes not only to their superior quality, but also to a potentially longer maturing period.

Santei wines

Santei Natural wines are the pure demonstration of our respect for Mother Nature and Matej´s perfectionism in the wine cellar. All our wines are certified organic since 2018 and certified Demeter since 2021 vintage. Despite the skin contact, Santei wines are recognised by freshness, liveliness and elegance.

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Organic, biodynamic and natural

Our vision is to combine the best terroirs and offer you a natural, organic and unforgettable wine experience, while respecting the natural characteristics of the Vipava Valley.

These are the principles we follow strictly:

We follow organic and biodynamic principles in everything we do
Great wines are born in the vineyard
Wines are produced in a natural way

1. We follow organic and biodynamic principles in everything we do

We believe in the concept of sustainability. Most of the work at our vineyards - including harvest - is done manually with respect for nature. It is only this deep respect for nature that allows us to build a sustainable ecosystem. All our grapes and wines ore organically certified, and from 2019 we use biodynamic principles in our vineyards and at Santei wine cellar.

In our sustainability efforts, we are assisted by nature itself:

The mixing of the Mediterranean and the continental climate, in combination with the bora wind, is specific to the Vipava Valley and greatly influences the production of premium quality grapes. The bora and the cold air from the Nanos mountain keep the ground cold and reduce humidity, which could otherwise cause grapevine diseases, so we are able to work the vine sustainably and in a way that is friendly both to nature and to our customers.
All our vineyards are built in terraces at the altitudes above 220 meters. The average cant of our vineyards is 25% to facilitate the air flow between the vines, drying them quickly after the rain. At the same time, this makes work at the vineyards more difficult and requires a lower crop load on the grapevines, which is an important factor in the production of our premium wines.

2. Great wines are born in the vineyard

We believe in the concept of terroir. Premium wines can only be produced from the grapes which are grown at the best wine-growing sites. We place great importance on the wine growing tradition. Our ancestors, the old farmers of the Vipava valley region knew exactly which wine growing locations were the most appropriate for individual grapevine varieties, so we strictly adhere to this tradition. All Santei vineyards are planted at the locations where vineyards were grown in the past. Our wines are made exclusively from the grapes that we grow in our vineyards.

3. Our wines, spirits and gin are produced in a natural way

We respect tradition. In our wine cellar we follow the French know-how. We use traditional French wooden press for pressing grapes and utilize no additives in the winemaking process, apart from sulfur, which is added in minimum quantities necessary. The essence of our oenological processes is cleanliness, attention to details and time, and these factors only support the premium grapes from our organic and biodynamic vineyards. We believe that every wine needs enough time to fully mature in the barrel before it is bottled. Only when fully harmonized, we offer our wines, spirits and gin to our customers.