Would you like to have a wine tasting in Split Croatia? When traveling to a new country, no matter what your preference is when it comes to the way you wish to spend your vacation, there is one thing that almost all tourists have in common: they want to try something local.
Croatian food is very versatile depending on the region you visit but it is its wine offer that truly surpasses all expectations. As you have probably noticed the country has a very interesting shape and spreads over the coast, mountains and vast plains, thus encompassing all five possible wine regions defined according to the temperature and solar hours. The main division is in the continental and coastal wine-growing region. Continental regions are further divided into the northwestern region (Zagorje, Medjimurje, Moslavina, etc., also a great region for the wine tasting in Croatia) and the northeastern region (Slavonia and Transdanubia). The coastal winegrowing region is divided into Istria in the north, north Dalmatia, Dalmatian hinterland (Zagora), Central and South Dalmatia.
Indigenous grape varieties of Croatia
There are more than a hundred indigenous grape varieties in Croatia, with other famous wines being grown and bottled into the best Croatian wines. In the continental region, the most popular wine is Grasevina (Riesling, Grashevina), followed by Rajnski rizling (Rhine Riesling), Chardonnay, Moslavac (Furmint), white and gray Pinot. Other wines include Sauvignon, Traminac (Traminer), Zweigelt. In Istria and the region of North Adriatic, the top wines are Malvazija (Malmsey), Merlot, Teran (Terrano), Muškat (Muscat) and Vrbnička žlahtina from the island of Krk.
The richest Croatian wine region when it comes to indigenous grape varieties is Dalmatia. The most popular wine is Plavac, followed by Merlot, Debit, Pošip, Grk, Bogdanuša, Plavac Mali and Dingač. They can all be found in different parts of Dalmatia, making it considerably rich with different wines compared to its rather small size and dry land with very small portions of rich soil, giving the grapes exquisite taste.
Since there are so many wonderful wines in Croatia, if you want to try them and still keep your head up, try the wines diluted with still or sparkling water. If you dilute white wine with sparkling water it is called gemist, and if you dilute red wine with still water it is called bevanda. Since Croatia has so many indigenous grape varieties they are usually unknown to the wider public, so sometimes in order to recommend a wine, you will probably be given a comparison to some other world-renowned wines, although it is impossible and almost unfair to compare and describe wines like that. One of the most famous comparisons is the one between Zinfandel and Plavac Mali, since it is very arguable that Zinfandel actually has derived from Plavac Mali.
Wine tours and wine tasting in Croatia
With the increased interest in Croatian wines and more tourists seeking a holiday where they could follow wine roads and enjoy local cuisine, almost all more prominent wineries in Croatia organize visits to their cellars. Do you guess? These are the best places for wine tasting in Croatia!
If you travel to Istria, you will surely enjoy amazing wine tours all over the peninsula and taste the most popular white wine Malvazija. Among the winemakers, there are some that stand out such as Matosevic, Kozlovic, Kabola, Cuj, Coronica and Degrassi. Some of the organized tours are only daily tours where you can enjoy a light lunch and wine, but some of them can last for days and include accommodation in the wine country and visit to the different wineries every day. This is the way how we do wine tasting in Croatia!
These tours are a perfect combination of historical and cultural heritage, exquisite wine and local eco food prepared in a traditional manner. These tours are especially popular in South Dalmatia and on the peninsula of Pelješac, where you can travel wine roads and hop on the island of Korčula with a ferry ride that lasts only 20 minutes from Orebić. One of the most popular wines in the Dubrovnik and Neretva region are Dingač, Postup, Rukatac, Pošip and Plavac Mali. The most famous wineries in the region are: Matuško, Korta Katarina, Putnikovići, Madirazza and the probably most famous Grgich winery known for its world-renowned winery in Nappa Valley (California).
Wine has always been more than a beverage to the people of Croatia, and especially in Dalmatia, since the soil was so poor and the cultivated vines grew among the limestone in the karst environment, feeding the generations who only had grapes to sell or exchange for flour and wheat. Today it is still its most precious fluid, only to be enjoyed while eating freshly caught fish in homemade olive oil on a terrace overlooking the sea. If you wish to visit a wine cellar or a winery anywhere in Croatia and treat your taste buds to this sacred drink, just contact us and we will organize the best wine tasting in Split Croatia!
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