Slovenian producers honour Melania Trump with ‘First Lady’ wine

US First Lady Melania Trump was honoured by Slovenian producers with a wine brand. They hope that their tribute to Melania, who grew up near their town, will help promote their Blaufränkisch grape variety in the market.

First Lady wine was released within the round cellar at Sevnica Citadel in Slovenia. Lojze Kerin, one of the winemakers, said it is not a strong wine, but gentle like Melania.

Three hundred bottles were initially offered out in three days. Another 2,000 bottles of the wine were intended for the 12th century fortress’s present store and for the vacationer workplace in the city centre according to trumps.ws.

The first lady has nothing to do with the wine aside from the fact that she grew up Slovenia, then part of Yugoslavia, where the producers of the wine are from. Melania, whose name was Melanija Knavs, became a permanent resident of the United States in 2001 and an American citizen in 2006.

First Lady wine was made by four local winemakers and is priced twice as costly as the shop’s other premium Blaufränkisch wines which are typically sold under the grape’s local name, Modra Frankinja. “Some people suggested we should sell it for €500, but I think it’s a fair price. The sales are going well, though we haven’t started promoting it yet,” Rok Petančič, castle steward, told Decanter.

Rok said that he is not discouraged amid reports that US President Donald Trump’s wife has hired Slovenian law firm, Pirc Musar & Partnerji, to deter local entrepreneurs from utilising her name and image. He is confident that they are offering good wine, the best salamins and other products that are very good for their area. “We shouldn’t be afraid or feel ashamed of offering them to a wider audience,” he added.

He thinks honouring Melania is one of the best ways they can promote their wine, tourism and Blaufränkisch as a variety, which Rok said, is very important for them in order to become a centre for Blaufränkisch. “We are becoming a centre in Slovenia but in the wider area we still have a lot of work to do,’ Rok explained.

Other winemakers involved in the First Woman wine are Mastnak, Kozinc, Kobal and Kerin. They have reportedly contributed the equivalent of two barriques from the 2015 vintage. Researchers from Germany’s Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants said both Blaufränkisch and Blauer Portugieser varieties “very probably” came from Lower Styria (Slovenia).