It is there that on hard, poor, stone based soils, but in ideal climatic conditions, Plavac mali is grown. This is the most precious of all Croatia’s indigenous varieties, which yields wines that can become a prestigious Croatian export product. As luck would have it, those very locations, on which some of the best Croatian [...]
Badel of Zagreb, whose range of wines offered to the market is restricted mostly to those of mediocre quality, sometimes with labels of wineries from prestigious wine growing areas (like Ivan Dolac, a red wine from Hvar), has embarked on an exceptionally significant, almost revolutionary enterprise of reviving vineyards in Northern Dalmatia. Specifically, in the [...]
Babić is unarguably the greatest wine attraction of Central Dalmatia, as much for its famous vineyards as for the true potential of this indigenous black variety. The largest producer is Vinoplod, the Šibenik winery, which also bottles a whole range of other wines: red, white and rosé. Barrique aged Babić with a white and red [...]
The company near Skradin, owned by Alen Bibić, produces a range of wines characteristic of Northern Dalmatia and the Dalmatian hinterland. Bibich riserva (two stars) is vinified from Babić grapes, from the less known local varieties Lasina and Plavina, and from the international varieties Grenache and Syrah. Bibich riserva is allowed to mature in barriques [...]
Those vineyards of the Babić variety are a protected world monument of culture: planted on small terraces of red soil, fenced with step-like walls which, viewed from a distance, give the impression (as Professor Sokolić wrote in his Golden Book on Wines) of an orderly chess board. Sadly, the vineyards of Primošten, which once covered [...]
The Vrbnik Agricultural Cooperative is one of the largest producers of Žlahtina. At the time when this wine was still very fashionable, Zlatna Žlahtina produced by PZ Vrbnik was the best selling wine in the restaurants of Zagreb. It is light, reasonably refreshing and easy going.
The Katunar family were among the first private producers to appear on the island of Krk. They capitalized on the once great demand for Žlahtina, a most definitely thirst quenching wine, and have built a modern winery and restaurant and tasting bar in Vrbnik. Katunar’s Žlahtinas are typical wines that Krk has been producing over [...]
Frajona is a company located on the island of Krk, although most of its vineyards are in Western Istria. On the island the company produces one of the numerous local Žlahtinas, and a sparkling wine based on Žlahtina. Of the Istrian varieties, Frajona vinifies Malvoisie and a relatively interesting Merlot which is allowed to undergo [...]
The wine industry on that island experienced a boom some ten years ago when the whole country literally went mad for Žlahtina, the indigenous grape variety which yields light, relatively refreshing wines of low alcohol content and which are successful thirst quenchers. Suddenly, five or six producers of Žlahtina appeared on the market and in [...]
Ortonero is a brand from the Istrian village of Brtonigla, which is owned by the Italian company T.E.A. and the Italian Union of Rijeka. Wines bearing the Ortonero label are in fact the product of local wine makers, and they are processed in the cooperative winery. The most important Ortonero product for the time being [...]