Wine & Croatia
Croatia has a vast variety of wines. From East to West, From North to South you’ll see vineyards, and you’ll taste wine.
From mali plavac, bogdanjuša, babić, pošip in Dalmatia, over graševina, chardonnay, pinot gris, frankovka, silvanac zeleni in Slavonia. From Istrian malvazija, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, teran on the west, to graševina, rajnski rizling, chardonnay, moslavac, škrelt, pinot on the north.
Each region has something different to offer and every cork has a story to spill.
Croatia is an endless streak of wineries and wine-makers
Kozlović winery stands like a Guggenheim museum on the slopes of Istria. Its Malvazija, sweet and light wine, will slowly stretch your smile all the way.
On the island of Brač, Stina (stone) furnished in stone, with its wide gates welcomes travelers in the oldest wine associations in Dalmatia.
Tomić and Duboković on the island of Hvar will take you to another dimension with their Mali Plavac. In the abandoned army tunnels – from the time of the cold war – on the island of Vis barrels are piled up just like grapes.
Pošip Nerica on the island of Korčula is usually sold out at the end of December. The Crvik winery near Dubrovnik, can even be found in the States. Eco-certified wines on the east of Croatia, of winery Enjingi are telling another story of a long and diverse wine-making history in Croatia.
Or you might stumble upon less known wine producers, such as Antunović on the peninsula of Pelješac. As the owner pours his Dingač in your glass you’ll notice that on his label donkeys are humping one another. And then, the owner will start laughing with you. Later on, he’ll proudly take you to see his 70 donkeys and endless vineyards that he takes care of on his own. Just like so many.
Croatia is a never-ending buffet of wines and vineyards. Heritage and pride echo in its music and sparkle in its wine. No matter where the path takes you, vineyards are your neighbours, glasses are filled with wine, and plates with diversity.
And that’s just the beginning.
The wine was food that fed many
Due to karst land across Croatia, there was a lack of food for centuries in Dalmatia. The wine was a substitute for food. It was a source of energy needed to work and live.
It wasn’t like today, consumed to be drunk, but to be fed.
Poverty and necessity gave birth to some of the finest wines and wine producers. Croatian-origin Mike “Miljenko” Grgich is the most famous American wine producer born on Pelješac peninsula, Dalmatia. Like many others, at the beginning of the 20th century, he emigrated to the States. Today he’s one of the most appreciated wine producers worldwide.
He even played an important role in the American-French wine competition that took place in 1976. At the time, for the first time in the history of wine Americans made the best Chardonnay in the world and defeated the French. Which of course, pissed off the French.
Bottle Shock is an American movie from 2018. covering exactly that moment in wine history. It’s a thrilling movie, and with a glass of wine in your hands, Chris Pine, Alan Rickman, and Bill Pullman will show you how exciting wine production actually is.
California and Dalmatia share the same climate, so it’s no wonder that Zinfandel from California and Mali Plavac from Croatia are cousins. But that’s a story for another time.
Wine fed exhausted farmers and fishermen across Dalmatia. In the frozen early winter mornings in northern Croatia, it heated up pupils that walked many miles through the snow to the school.
Of course, schools were warmed up with fire, so a glass of wine in their belly and a warm fire on a cheek made them sleep for at least the first three classes.
As an ode to Mike Grgichs’ roots, a winery was founded in 1996. on the Pelješac peninsula, where it welcomes guests from all over the world.
Wine and Mediterranean cuisine
The wine was and still is an important part of Croatian cuisine. You can’t make brudet (fish stew) without wine, nor buzzara, pašticada, many cakes or sweets, and so on.
Due to karst land, for a long time, wine was an important source of nurture in Croatia. Even today, a slice of dry bread dipped in red wine can be supper. Salted or marinated sardines with a glass of wine are marenda (a quick byte – a sort of fast food, even though there’s nothing fast about it).
Wine is served for guests. It’s a welcoming present, it’s a farewell gift, it’s the pride of every house.
In Dalmatia, houses are built above konoba – traditional taverns for storing wine – and they echo with klapa songs, laughter, and joy of people in them. The karst land is called škrta zemlja (cheap land), yet it abundantly filled our konobe (taverns) with the sweetest wines across the world: bogdanjuša, mali plavac, pošip, malvazija, and so on.
Abundant with salt and wine, after centuries of hard work and persistence, today Dalmatia is an unspoiled jewel with a palette of beauty and wine selection.
Where do we “wine” from here?
Everywhere.
Colourful Istria is abundant in water and forest. The best truffles in Europe are exactly there, and they go quite well with a glass of wine. Don’t you agree?
Dalmatia is all about wine. In Dalmatia, they say: fish swims three times. First time in the sea, the second time in the olive oil, and the third time in wine. Well, I don’t think that every single fish ever is wrong. How about you?
The vineyards on the hillsides of the Slavonia region are thick as eyelashes. Graševina, chardonnay, pinot gris, sauvignon blanc, silvanac zeleni, pinot crni, frankovka, merlot are just some of the wines you’ll come across on your path. And it’s a long path of wonders.
The surface of Croatia is around 22 000 sq mi. To put it in perspective, that’s less than half the size of the state of New York. And now imagine if in New York every so often a block of houses were vineyards and nature.
Well, that’s my home. And by the way, that was an invite. See you soon, along the barrels of wine.