From the 14th century
to a family restoration

Welcome to Stancija Kumparička, an organic farm nestled on the east coast of the Istrian peninsula. Its roots trace back to the 14th century — a stone farmstead worked, then rested, then worked again through centuries of Istrian life.

In 2008, the Winkler family fully restored the farm. They kept its stone bones, brought the surrounding land back into working pasture, and set the direction Kumparička still follows today: small herd, certified organic, nothing rushed.

Four Winklers,
one farm

Eighteen years ago, Aleš and Saša Winkler traded Ljubljana for a stone stancija on Istria's east coast and moved in with their two children, Tita and Bor. Kumparička has grown up around them since — 200 goats, a garden, a dairy, a farm shop, a table under the mulberry tree — and each of the four now shapes a different corner of it.

Aleš Winkler smelling a wheel of aged Kumparička cheese in the dairy

Father & Mother · Founders

Aleš & Saša Winkler

Aleš moved the family from Slovenia in 2008 and brought the 14th-century stancija back to life. For years he cooked cucina primitiva over open fire in the farm's informal konoba, Primitiva. Today he tends the herd, the land and the vineyard, and has stepped two paces back to let Tita lead the kitchen.

Saša co-founded Kumparička and was part of the family's decision to leave the city for a life among goats. Sixteen years on, she remains the quiet centre of the farmhouse — hosting guests, holding the household together, and shaping the everyday rhythm of the farm.

HEAD CHEF · THE KUMPARIČKA TABLE

Tita Winkler

Born in Ljubljana, raised on the farm. Studied philosophy — her thesis was gastronomy in philosophy — then chose the kitchen instead. Apart from running the OPG, she now leads the six-course Kumparička Table, drawing on Greek, Turkish and Middle-Eastern cooking and working almost entirely from the garden, pasture and dairy: labneh, chevre, dolma, in umido, fritto misto of wild herbs.

FARM TOURS · MEAT ON THE FIRE

Bor Winkler

Twenty one years old, studied gastronomy and hospitality in Ljubljana. He runs the outdoor hearth — turning goat leg over the fire, tending the coals for in umido — and leads visitors through the farm. In quieter hours he rides Vito and Sleepy Joe, the family horses, bareback through the surrounding woods.

200 goats.
200 hectares.
180 herbs.

Kumparička is home to 200 goats that graze year-round across 200 hectares of aromatic Istrian pasture. Our animals feed on more than 180 species of wild herbs — sage, thyme, fennel, immortelle, wild rocket — the same plants that give this coast its scent in the summer.

That diet is what our milk tastes of. Nothing added, nothing hidden — every drop carries the flavors of Istria straight into the dairy.

Raw milk,
patient hands

Every cheese we make starts with unpasteurized milk from our own herd — milk of exceptional quality, gathered in a pristine rural setting where the pasture, the barn, and the dairy sit within a few minutes' walk of each other.

From a glass of fresh milk, to creamy spreads, to hard wheels aged up to three years — each variety captures a different moment of the same story. One farm, one herd, one journey from pasture to plate.

Farm Shop

A working farm on
the Istrian coast

From the 14th century
to a family restoration