World’s first Green Key awarded winery

Located in Slovenia, Klet Brda winery turns the uniqueness of the Brda local wine into a success story.

Klet Brda unites 400 families who have been working together for over half a century, capturing in their wine the uniqueness of the Brda terroir. Their vineyards planted on demanding terrain and steep slopes cultivation relies almost only on manual labour. This kind of production known as heroic viticulture enhances deep respect for nature and its cycles in the winery day-to-day activities.

Klet Brda wine makers know that nature is their strongest ally. As they see sustainability as the only right way forward, the vineyards are cultivated according to the principles of integrated production.

Moreover, guests from all over the world come to enjoy Klet Brda’s wine tasting tours and guided tours of the winery. From the vineyard to the bottle, guests can discover Klet Brda’s sustainable wine production. They can have a tour of the small viticulture and wine making museum created to commemorate the winery’s 60th anniversary in 2017.

“Our guests can learn about our history and they can see that viticulture has been present in Brda for over two thousand years. We show them how we work with the land that we were given, how we take from it, and how we give back to it. In fact, this is true for every renowned wine region in the world. Wine reflects the terroir and the people who live there and that makes for a great tourist attraction,” summarised Silvan Peršolja, CEO of Klet Brda.

Klet Brda’s passionate wine makers also pay a lot of attention to their responsibility towards territory and people by passing the traditional know-how from fathers to sons. In that way, the winery contributes to the richness of cultural landscape and to sustainable development of remote rural areas.

Hotels in Slovenia gradually fulfill their commitment to sustainable development

With two new Green Key awarded establishments, the Hit Group continues to spread eco-friendly practices in the Slovenian tourism industry and the Goriška Region

This October, the Lipa and Sabotin Hotels received the Green Key award for their work done with sustainability. Both located in the green countryside of the sunny Goriška Region, these two establishments part of the Hit Group offer a myriad possibility for active relaxation or services adapted to the needs of sportsmen.

Recognised as “cyclist-friendly hotels” the Lipa and Sabotin Hotels promote sightseeing by bike in order to encourage their guests to think about responsible tourism. The hotels’ staff is dedicated to the preservation of the environment and inform the guests about the sustainable alternatives provided by their establishments.

Ecological, green, and local represent the key to ensuring top quality services for future tourists, we are sure of that. All our employees actively help develop and promote the sustainable nature of our hotels. The Green Key label opens up new opportunities for the marketing of our hotels.” say the Manager of the Lipa Hotel, Leon Mavrič, and the Manager of the Sabotin Hotel, Jana Jakin Petejan.

The recipients of the Green Key environmental label undertake to meet strict environmental standards and commit intensively to raising awareness of environmental and sustainability issues among guests, employees, and suppliers” said Boris Šušmak, representative of the Doves FEE Slovenia association upon handing over the certificates.

The establishments started activities to reduce their environmental impact such as strict separation of waste or the use of ecologic materials rather than plastic. Their commitment to sustainability also merged in gastronomy since they offer local and seasonal dishes and local wine thanks to their strong cooperation with local producers.