Keltis is the work of the Kelhar family of Bizeljsko, whose name fuses their surname with vitis, the Latin word for grapevine.
Backstory
The family's winemaking roots reach back to 1776. At the end of the 1980s, Ivan and Elizabeta Kelhar passed the farm to their son Marijan and his wife Ana, and Marijan created the Keltis label, bottling his first wines in 1989. Today their son Miha Kelhar is steadily taking over and steering the estate firmly toward natural winemaking.
The Region
The estate sits in the village of Bizeljsko in lower Styria, in southeastern Slovenia close to the Croatian border, a green, hilly region with a long tradition of farmhouse winemaking.
Vineyards & Farming
The family works a 22-hectare property, with about five hectares of vines and twelve hectares of forest that supplies the wood for their cellar barrels. They have been certified organic since 2009, have farmed biodynamically since 2019, and earned Demeter certification in 2022, producing around 20,000 bottles a year.
Winemaking
Keltis works in a natural, hands-off style, including extended skin maceration for several whites, and releases wines only when the family judges them ready.
The Wines
The range includes macerated Chardonnay and Pinot, traditional varietal wines, sparkling Mario Brut and rosé, and a house take on tawny port. Their orange cuvee Extrême placed second at the Orange Wine Festival in Vienna in 2009.
