Croatian Wine

My wife and I are taking a cruise with several stops in Croatia soon and I am currently fascinated with learning more about Croatian wine. So some questions for the Berserkers:

  1. Any recommendations of Croatian producers to seek out (willing to try any and all styles of wine)?

  2. Any wine shops, bars or nearby producers that are “must-visits” in Dubrovnik, Split or Rovinj?

  3. Any good books/resources on Croatian wine or do you have any general Berserker wisdom to share?

Thanks in advance and will definitely report back here with thoughts next month when we return.

The Croatian wines I’ve tried thus far have been a mixed bag. I thinks the vnyds are old & fine…but the
winemaking can be a bit hap-hazard. Last Fall I had a Kozlovic Malvazija Istria (13.0%; L2014) Croatia 2013
that I thought first rate.
The PlavacMalis have been a mixed bag, but there’s no reason they shouldn’t be first rate. I’ve had much more
luck w/ the Malvasia d’Istrianas and the Terranos (of the Refosco family).
Tom

My wife and I visited Split last year before our first child was born. It was a beautiful city with incredible food and local wines. We really enjoyed the PARADOX wine and cheese bar. Lots of local varieties and they were able to tell us about the producers and show exactly where the wines were from on a regional wine map. They also gifted us some tastes of local cherry brandy that is made just up the hill, 10 bottles total per year! Very nice people at PARADOX.

The food in Split is great in general but our best meal on the mainland was probably at Konoba Marjan. It’s tiny and they have specials that take most of the day to prepare, so it is worth stopping by early for a reservation the following day. They also have some of the best fish. Pick your choice from the daily catch and they will prepare it to your liking. The wines are very mineral driven and best with food, but some of the whites are quite quaffable on a hot summer day.

We also spent a day on Hvar and I can’t recommend that enough. We had an incredibly great meal of local wines and langostines, which I will remember for a long time. A beautiful island that you can explore on foot and it’s a short ferry ride from Split.

Get up early one day and check out the fish market. Really fun. Then go have coffee and sweets at Crème de la Crème http://cremedelacreme.hr/. My wife loved that place so much we were there daily. Awesome cakes and proper espresso drinks, no illy pods.

We loved Split and can’t wait to return. Next time we’ll also try Dubrovnik. We happened to arrive during the Croatian wine fest in the basement of Diocletian’s Palace. $3 got you all the wine you could drink from producers around the country. I brought home a couple bottles including ancient Roman varieties. I was like a kid in a candy store. Unfortunately my wife was pregnant but she was gracious enough to let me hang out all evening. I was quite entertainingly inebriated that evening but it was very memorable.

Enjoy your trip!
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Our Whole Foods usually has a couple. Seem to rotate through producers. Like Tom said, been a mixed bag. Some have been really good, some have been funky in a fun way, and some have been funky in a not so good way. Maybe grab a few bottles before you go.

Croatia is a beautiful place and the people are friendly. I have been twice - once along the northern Istrian coast; the second time was the Dalmatian coast (last year).
I found a nice wine shop in Split. It is near where the cruise ships let people off (Main walking road along the sea among the jewelry shops and restaurants and bars and shops selling trinkets).
Dubrovnik, within the walls, is quite contained and there were a few small wine shops.

Didn’t find much information about wineries. Here are two websites that have some good information:
https://www.bluedanubewine.com/regions/croatia/

One producer whose wines I enjoyed is Bibich - although that was difficult to find.

I found the wines of Zlatan (Island of Hvar) and Dingač (Pelješac) to be enjoyable - and both can be easily found in small grocery stores. Both were enjoyable although nothing particularly outstanding. Good “food wines” as they say.

I will try and post more when I have some time.

I hope you enjoy your trip.

Some photos and info on my last trip can be found here:

Mike Grgich and his family make wine on the Peljesac peninsula. Their Posip (a white wine) is quite interesting.

I second the wines of Dingac.

I was in Croatia back in July 2010. We had an amazing trip driving the country side and cruising along the Adriatic. We visited several wineries near Zagreb and also from the island of Hvar, Mljet and Korcula. The standout wineries/wines for me were:

Tomac - the winery is located near Jasterbarsko (about 30 minutes away from Zagreb). They make Pinot Noirs, Rieslings, White Blends (Chardonnay and other locally grown varieties), but their claim to fame is their sparkling wines. The winemaker (Tomislav) spent time learning/working in Champagne – which you can clearly see in his wines (taste, profile, style, etc.) Probably the top sparking producer in the country according to Edi Maletic and Ivan Pejic (the two Croatian Research Scientists who were credited in tracing the Zinfandel’s root back to Croatia) – and I wholeheartedly agree. Keep an eye out for this.

Korak – also near Jasterbarsko ,sits on top of a hill with a stunning panoramic view of the lush country side with neatly lined up rows of vines ala Germany’s Mosel Region. Arguably the top Pinot Noir producer in the country – the 07 Pinot Noir was my wine of the trip (perfect balance – fruit, structure, acidity and length). Also keep an eye out for this.

Zlatan – from the island of Hvar. The Barrique Plavac Mali along with the Reserve Plavac Mali was pretty darn tasty. We docked on the other side of the island and loaded up on these puppies. We ran out halfway through our voyage so we stocked up via Konzum (THE grocery chain of Croatia).

Bibich – there was a Bibich wine outlet in Vodice – nice wines (white and red).

Kutjevo – they make a nice Grasevina. Light, crisp and refreshing. They are pretty much available everywhere. They also come in 1ltr bottles. A nice qpr.

The people in Croatia are warm, friendly and generous. You will have a great time in Rovinj. Love the narrow hilly streets. Dubrovnik was beautiful, I would’ve enjoyed it more but the temp was just too freakin hot.

Sretan put,

We visited the D’Vino wine bar/shop when we were in Dubronik, which was fun - they had tasting flights, which was a fun way to sample several Croatian wines at a time. Otherwise, we mostly drank house wines or picked at random from menus at restaurants, with mostly success.

If you are simply taking a cruise, be content with the high quality of carafe wines. I was not disappointed in any of them. I only remember seeing one exclusive wine shop and that was in Split, close to the waterfront on the hill (south of the old town and market area).

I expect big hugs from any Croation.

Ask Leo. He ain’t known as the Croatian Cuddler for nothing.

Very briefly:
TOMAC, essential, as mentioned above. Continental Croatia’s best winery, hands down. They make a range of very impressive bubblies (by far Croatia’s best), as well as Croatia’s best, most elegant Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and, often, Chardonnay (just tasted the 2015 white line-up some days ago, the Riesling and the SB are fantastic, the Chardonnay perhaps a touch weaker than it was in some previous years, I suppose the best fruit ended up in the bubblies). Also, far and away Croatia’s best and only truly successful Pinot Noir (personally, I find that Korak’s and Sember’s PNs, also from Plesivica, often lack balance, to cut a long story short… Tomac is a true virtuoso. His neighbours, some of them promising, still have some way to go, if you ask me).
ADZIC from Kutjevo in Slavonia also makes very beautiful Riesling and Pinot Gris.
Same general area, ENJINGI for highly personal, somewhat idiosyncratic, take-no-prisoners whites (profound, long and resonant at their best, but often heavy and, frankly, a little too extreme and ungainly for me…).
FRANO MILOS from Peljesac for Croatia’s best traditional reds (Plavac and Stagnum). The Rose’ is often quite exciting, too (2015 very, very good). Plus, the country’s best late-harvest Plavac Mali.
HRVOJ BAKOVIC from Brac Island for Murvica Plavac, a fabulous wine that regularly displays real ageing potential.
BURA’s best Dingac vintages are probably the most compelling modern-day case for this traditional terroir on Peljesac (Dingac is also made from Plavac Mali).
Try and find something from Vis Island. Paradox Bar in Split used to pour Neno ZOROTOVIC’s Zoborje, an occasionally incredible old-style white from very old Rukatac vines. ROKI’s for brilliant Bugava (IMO, coastal Croatia’s noblest and most interesting indigenous white variety) and Muskardin (a white blend). Toni BUNCIC has also been known to produce excellent whites when the vintage delivers, as well as a brilliant, Maury-style, sweet Plavac which he calls “Proshek”. Failing all of that, you can try and track down a bottle of LIPANOVIC’s Vugava, usually available in supermarkets - in a good vintage, this can be a very convincing wine. (If you drink Vugava, remember not to overchill it and drink from the biggest stems available).
Korcula Island’s most interesting grape varieties are Posip and Grk. I am not really a huge fan of anything that’s available on the market, but here are some of the better producers: KRAJANCIC, BIRE, SMOKVICA (a co-op). Avoid CARA (the biggest and most succesful co-op, completely soulless wines. (Posip is also made elsewhere, notably on Brac: STINA and, since very recently, BAKOVIC do a good job and their examples are probably more balanced and elegant than almost anything made on Korcula these days).
VUINA, from Kasteli near Split, makes excelent, authentic, gluggable entry-level wines: Babica and Plavac Mali. Worth tracking down, if you have a chance.
Then there is Istria, the northernmost section of the coast plus its hinterland. Being in a bit of a rush right now, I’ll just rattle off some names that I would be looking for if I were you: CORONICA, TRAPAN, DEGRASSI, PIQUENTUM, RITOSA…
Slightly disorganised, a bit of a bird’s eye view and, as I said, jotted down in a rush, but hopefully enough to keep you busy while there.
Many of these might be somewhat difficult to track down, but they really are worth the effort if compared to much more run-of-the-mill propositions you are likely to be faced with most places you go.
Safe travels and have fun!

Mike - it’s a very cool trip. i can’t recommend anything specific but I would suggest that you taste with an open mind. The producers are not unaware of what’s going on in the rest of the world. Not all have the money to do what they want to and not all have the experience to know what they need to do - many are still learning as they go.

It’s a wonderful time to be going there. If you’re lucky enough to go in another five years and another five after that, note the developments. Post on your trip and have a great and fascinating time!