Let me tell you about the wineries that you need to visit, and all the wines that you should try while you are in Croatia.

The quality of Croatian wines has improved dramatically over the last 20 years. There are four wine regions in Croatia:  Istria, Dalmatia, Slavonia, and the hills of Northern Croatia.
Istria is known for its Malvasia – a fresh wine you should definitely try.  This light summer wine can be found in practically every wine cellar on the Istrian peninsula. I will be writing about some of the wine cellars that I have visited myself.

In Dalmatia, I was thrilled with several types of wine. For example, there is Pošip, a fantastic white wine that should definitely be on your must-try list, especially if you visit the island of Korcula and the Peljesac peninsula.  Then, there is malvasija – the Malvasia  of Dubrovnik – different from the Istrian malvazija in only one letter in Croatian; as soon as you have your first sip, however, you realize that there are other similarities too. During the Dubrovnik Republic, doctors used to prescribe this wine as medicine.  Be sure not to leave the southern part of Dalmatia without treating yourself to a glass of Malvasia from Dubrovnik. When it comes to the renowned Plavac Mali, the most important red variety, there has been so much written about it by now, that there’s no need for us to add anything to that here.

Slavonia fascinated me,  and it is a region I’ll definitely keep coming back to. Once upon a time the richest part of the Croatia, this part of the country is still feeling the consequences of the war. It is the oldest and the most important wine region.  Riesling is a wine with a thousand faces.  Experts say that this variety in Slavonia produces the best Riesling in the world – and I can only concur myself! One thing I don’t understand is how they manage to produce so many different wines from one single variety.  Each cellar has at least several  types of Riesling wines. One place you should definitely not miss are the Kutjevo Cellars, dating back to 1232, but we’ll tell you more about that below.

It would be great if you could set aside a day or two for a visit to Zagreb, the capital city of Croatia, the beauty of which is best seen in the summertime, if you ask me. That would also give you the opportunity to visit the nearby regions of Zagorje and Međimurje.  The hilly area of Zagorje is packed with old castles,  fine food and ice wines. Međimurje, on the other hand, will delight you with its great white wine PUŠIPEL.