On the trail of the vine: What to expect from Slavonia’s vineyards, Croatia

Long before the Romans brought grapes to regions such as Bordeaux in France, ancient civilisations venerated Slavonia’s terroir. That’s because this eastern corner of Croatia is one of the world’s most perfect grape-growing zones. Its elevated plains are licked by sunshine and left to soak up minerality from three mighty rivers: the Danube, Drava and Sava. When the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius Probus arrived in Slavonia, he immediately set about planting more vines.

In the 13th century, Cistercian monks settled around the pretty town of Kutjevo. This religious brotherhood wove wine into Slavonian culture, a tradition that continues in the form of festivals, heritage and song. Today, as many as 350 wineries welcome curious drinkers, while thousands more families produce their own rare vintages.

The golden-green vineyards around Kutjevo, Ilok and other wine-making towns are deeply intertwined with the cultural fabric of Slavonia. Kutjevo features Croatia’s oldest wine cellar, dating back to 1232. The winery’s underground wine tour is like stepping back in time. Visitors can taste their way through a historical cellar stocked with 65,000 bottles, the richest wine archive in the country. Up above, the new restaurant Vinkomir is situated among the rippling vines. Wine-infused dishes include gnudi cottage cheese fritters with grape oil dipping sauce.

The Kutjevo region is stocked with similar experiences at age-old cellars. Local grape varieties such as graševina (commonly known as riesling), the region’s most widely planted white wine vine, have grown here so long that they are considered indigenous, and Plavac Mali offers a dense, robust flavour. Family-owned estates such as Enjingi, near the village of Hrnjevac, offer authentic tours of their organic vineyards. They can also organise nature walks, bike rides and traditional Slavonian feasts baked in a brick oven.

In Ilok’s medieval town centre, there is a tasting room on almost every street. The Iločki winery, for example, has cellars that date back to the 15th century. The vineyard is particularly famous for its traminac wines (also known as gewürztraminer), which were served at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. A 10km-long ‘wine road’, or vineyard trail, runs through the surrounding countryside and a dozen wine-growing estates. With advance notice, each one will offer a private tasting alongside a platter of Slavonian cold cuts. The wine road meanders past Odescalchi Castle, now a museum, where European aristocracy once sipped Slavonia’s finest vintages.

Slavonia’s wine-making heritage is celebrated in a number of free-flowing festivals. Most feature music, food pairings and al fresco tastings. The Vinkovo festival in Ilok is a five-day party enlivened by street grills and vineyard tours by horse-drawn carriage.  The St Martin’s Day (Martinje) celebrations in rural villages bless the harvest with live folk music and open cellars.   

Finally, temperatures in Slavonia from late spring through autumn are warm and sunny, a fact proven by the region’s prodigious grape production. It’s the ideal weather for mountain biking, vineyard hiking and many viticultural experiences.

We offer guided tours of the old wine cellar, which dates from between the 15th and 18th centuries. Different tiers of wine tastings are offered too. We also offer tours through our vineyards, namely Principovac and Vukovo, via our electric tourist train, the Traminac Express.”

– Vesna Štajner from the Iločki  Podrumi winery

“In our region, you can visit cellars and stay overnight in a historic property.”

– Tomislav Panenić, director of Graševina Croatica, Slavonia’s largest winemakers association

1: Istria

Istria is a heart-shaped region of northern Croatia. Think olive groves, truffle hunters, Roman ruins and undulating vineyards. Istria’s stand-out grape is malvazija istarska. Few varieties absorb such a mineral-rich terroir, which is turned into blossomy, almondy white wines. Among Istria’s 250 immensely welcoming wineries is Kozlović, which has a boutique restaurant and wine bar among the vines.

2: Korčula

The Ancient Greeks planted a curious grape called grk on Korčula over 2,000 years ago. The variety, which has a sharp, saline whipcrack, loves sunshine and sand. Since then, every empire, from Rome to Austria, has left another viticultural legacy on this Croatian island. A second white grape synonymous with Korčula, pošip, was ill-used until the 20th century. Today, its citrus pop can be sampled at authentic agricultural co-operatives like Čara.

3: The Pelješac peninsula

The Pelješac peninsula, near Dubrovnik, rears once-in-a-lifetime red wines. Grapes cling to the peninsula’s sheer cliffs, where they soak up some of the nation’s most relentless sunshine. The heat is re-released from the stone at night, pushing alcohol volumes up to 16%. But be warned: production is so low here that visitors will be hard-pressed to find vintages outside of family wineries such as  Mikulić, which has its own on-site wine history museum and lodgings.