Stories from the city: Butelka opens the world of wine to everyone

Since the start of this year, Kidričeva ulica 37 has once again become a key destination for wine lovers in Koper. The wine shop Butelka has come to life, with its new inspiring story being crafted by Lenart Černelič—a seasoned sommelier with extensive international experience—who aims to make wine more accessible to everyone in Koper.

Butelka carries on the wine tradition of Kidričeva ulica

In the late 1990s, the Brenta wine shop, led by Igor Jakomin, was a pioneer in offering a curated selection of wines while in recent years, wine lovers have been catered to by Okusi Istre. Since mid-January, Lenart Černelič—at 37, already a seasoned expert with extensive international experience—has infused this space with new energy, enthusiasm, a carefully curated wine selection, and, most importantly, deep knowledge of wine culture.

He’s originally from Brežice, but he fell in love with Koper in 2012, when he lived here for about two years. He then moved to London. Why? “Partly because I felt like I was always swimming against the current in Slovenia. I’m the type of person who constantly seeks to learn something new, and at that time, I wasn’t able to do that. Now, I can see that a lot has changed in Slovenia,” he responds. His move to London, he says, was also ego-driven. “I was already relatively experienced in the hospitality field in Slovenia. I had an events company where we organized festivals for up to 20,000 people. But when I arrived in a new environment, I realized they weren’t interested in that, and I had to start from scratch—polishing glasses, cutlery…” he recalls of his first experience in London. “You stand out fast if you put in a little effort and do a good job.” 

In his first five years in London, he earned no fewer than nine promotions across the various bars he worked in. This gave him a boost of confidence, and he began to entertain the idea of taking on the role of bar manager. But, as he says, not because he wanted to be the boss, but because he couldn’t stand bad management. He observed bar managers closely during his work and noticed their knowledge of wine was quite lacking. And this is where Lenart began to carve his own path, a path that is now written in wine.

Experience in a Michelin-starred restaurant

“I was lucky enough to be offered Wine & Spirits Education Trust courses in my first job, which served as a great introduction to wine. I completed three levels of this course in a year and a half. When I finished my third level, I told myself, okay, I’m going to fully commit to wine. I then landed a job as a sommelier at the renowned Sketch restaurant in London, which now has three Michelin stars, though when I worked there, it had two,” he says. There, he was completely fascinated by the wine manager, Fred Brugues, whom he describes as an exceptional wine connoisseur, though very much under the radar: “Everyone knows about him, and at the same time, they don’t.” Then, in London, he had the opportunity to work in a different environment—a restaurant chain that also included a wine shop. “I seized the opportunity and spent three years managing the shop and overseeing the wine lists for the restaurants. It was crucial for my professional development, and I made a lot of valuable contacts,” he says.

But a very interesting challenge awaited him on the Channel Island of Guernsey, an island with about 64,000 inhabitants, where they mostly imported cheap South African wines. “Guernsey is a very wealthy island due to its status as a duty-free zone, but people mostly drank these types of wines. I got in touch with some people in London and started importing better-quality wines to the island,” he says. This “wine re-education” process took two years, but after that, a wide variety of wines, including Slovenian ones, became available on the island. There, he also began hosting personalized wine tastings, a practice he continues at Butelka in Koper.

Collaboration with Ana Roš

Even before Butelka, there was Ana Roš. “I was looking for opportunities to return to Slovenia, but I wasn’t able to get even a job interview, despite having quite a bit of experience from London. So, I applied for a job with Ana Roš as a joke, mainly to support my friend, but they were only looking for waiters. After an interview that lasted just ten minutes, we clicked immediately, and she offered me the position of Operations Manager. The first project was in Savudrija, which ultimately failed, followed by work on the bistro Jaz project, and before that, Ana Roš’s bakery in Ljubljana,” he explains.

When did Koper “happen”? “Right from the start of my return to Slovenia. It seemed like a great starting point because of its proximity to Savudrija, Ljubljana, and Hiša Franko. But at one point, I asked myself, what do I really excel at? Wine made sense because Koper didn’t have a place like Butelka,” he replies.

Closer to Brenta 

As for the rich wine heritage of the shop, he says that you can really feel the energy of the space. “The space is very nice, perfect for this kind of activity, but I’d say I’m perhaps more aligned with Brenta than Okusi Istre. After speaking with Igor Jakomin, who has already visited, I feel that we think alike and share similar interests,” he adds.

He currently offers 110 labels in the shop and has set up an online store, with the goal of reaching 400 or 500 labels. “I have enough space. Whenever I’ve created a wine list, I’ve always tailored it to the location of the restaurant, but in Butelka, I want my customers to have access to everything. I hope to have Uruguayan, American, New Zealand, and South African wines within a few weeks,” he says. From the very beginning, he has also offered local wines, with a special emphasis on wines local to Koper, where each winemaker is represented by two labels.

Lenart Černelič aims to spread knowledge about wine and wine culture in Koper. How does he plan to achieve this? “Through tailor-made tastings, I want to forge closer connections with the participants and make wine more accessible to everyone. My goal isn’t to teach about wine, but to help people understand it. It’s a long process, of course, but I enjoy challenges that take time,” he replies.

“Wine is made by farmers, it’s not a product of some overly intricate and fancy process.”

Will Butelka also turn into a wine bar in the warmer months? “Everyone asks me about it, and I get that question a lot. My answer is that I’m not sure yet. I’m torn on it—I want to offer this to my clients, but at the same time, I want to manage it myself. If I want to stay true to my philosophy and work in the long term, I need to do it alone,” he explains. And what is Lenart’s philosophy? “Simplicity, without fuss. Most people who enter the wine business tend to complicate things, and snobbery starts to creep in… We need to put an end to that! Wine is made by farmers, it’s not a product of some overly intricate and fancy process,” he concludes.