MAROF is a modern wine cellar, closely intertwined with nature, tradition and winemaking principles of our predecessors. With our gaze towards the future, fostering innovation, we lean firmly on tradition.
MAROF is a family story. While in anticipation of the future, of generations to come and of constant progress, we remain firmly based on tradition. It was over a century ago that the counts Szapáry produced top quality wine at this very location in Mačkovci.
The area of Goričko has a long and varied viticultural history, but it is due to historical circumstances and its remoteness that it remained an intact and a unique territory for vine-growing and ecological winemaking. In the 1960s, vineyards covered very modest areas of land and were mostly planted with American native vine varieties. Among rare exceptions was The Agricultural Holding in Mačkovci, which planted a vineyard next to the old cellar, as well as in the village of Bodonci. The main grape varieties were: Blaufränkisch, Sauvignon Blanc, Sylvaner and others. The yield met local demand.
Even in the 1980s, when viticulture in Slovenia experienced a major boom in terms of professionalism as well as quality, the area of Goričko remained a blind spot on the world map of wine. Wines produced here were neither written nor talked about. The Rakičan Agricultural Cooperative cultivated the vines in Mačkovci, Bodonci and Kramarovci and produced small quantities of (bulk) wine, selling most of the grapes to large wine cellars.
The winemaking potential of Goričko had not been fully utilised until the entrepreneur Stane Polanič established the MAROF wine cellar. The Sleeping Beauty was awoken from a century-long slumber.
The first 15000 bottles of wine under the brand MAROF were produced in 2007. It was only a year after the initial bottling that our BREG Chardonnay 2008 won the Regional Trophy at the prestigious Decanter magazine international wine competition.
The MAROF estate succeeded in connecting the thread to its noble past in September of 2009, when the new wine cellar was opened next to the renovated mansion. Do not let its modern appearance mislead you. The vineyards are cultivated ecologically; in the wine cellar, we swear by traditional procedures and natural processes with minimal interference only when absolutely necessary. We firmly believe that great wines are a product of culture, not science.
The 2009 vintage was the first to mature in the new cellar. The vintage had approximately 30 000 bottles. We currently bottle about three times as many.
We cultivate approximately 100000 vines in three single-vineyard sites in Mačkovci, Bodonci and Kramarovci. While renovating our wine-growing amphitheatres, we placed the Slovenian indigenous grape variety – the noble Blaufränkisch on the pedestal, where it absolutely belongs. Blaufränkisch now covers a third of our vineyards.
In 2018, the German magazine Der Feinschmecker placed the MAROF wine cellar among the six most prestigious wineries in Slovenia. In 2018, the legendary wine merchant and writer Steven Spurrier tasted our wines, giving praise to our MAČKOVCI Blaufränkisch of the 2013 vintage. "Superb deep velvety red, young and rich looking, warm autumn berries on the nose with a slight briary-ness that adds character without detracting from the expected smoothness of flavour, quite full and naturally ripe on the palate, all natural vigour and vibrant depth under the smooth texture, lifted by natural acidity, oak well-blended in a very classy wine."
MAROF is much more than Blaufränkisch. We are equally proud of all our wines.
Regardless of variety, our wines are produced with the utmost care and attention to detail and sophistication. We have great plans for the future. What makes wine so alluring is that it is always possible to make more convincing and outstanding wine. If nature and the winemaker's knowledge permit it.
