Croatia: One of the oldest wine regions in the Mediterranean
When it comes to wine regions, everyone must have a lot of treasures about France, Italy, Spain, Australia, the United States, etc., but few people pay attention to Croatia, a region with more than 3,000 years of wine cultivation and winemaking history. Croatian wine has been promoted to the outside world very little, resulting in many consumers in China not knowing much about it.
Croatia is located in south-central Europe, northwest of the Balkan Peninsula, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea, with a winding coastline of more than 1,700 kilometers and 1,185 beautiful islands scattered in the Adriatic Sea, making Croatia known as the "Land of a Thousand Islands". Croatia is a Mediterranean country, and its eastern side is separated from Italy by the Adriatic Sea. To the north of the country is the Alps, and to the northeast is the western end of the Pannonian Great Plain.
Although Croatia became independent in 1992, the region actually has a long history of viticulture and winemaking. As early as the fifth century BC, the coinage of the island of Chiavis in the Adriatic had the imprint of wine on it. By the beginning of the fifth century AD, Greek colonists began to grow grapes along the Chiadriaan coast, and their winemaking entered an era of prosperity. After several wars, many wineries and vineyards were destroyed, but the wine industry has remained and developed to this day.
Croatia has 33,000 hectares of vineyards and 80% of the vineyards are privately owned. There are more than 300 wine producers in the country, with an annual output of about 75 million liters, of which 60-70% are white wines and about 30% are red wines, and the production of sparkling and rosé wines is very small. Croatian Superior Wine accounts for about 10% of total production, Quality Wine accounts for 70% and tablet wine.
Croatia has 2 main appellations: inland and coastal (including islands). The two main appellations are further divided into a number of sub-appellations, and so on, smaller appellations. In total, Croatia has more than 300 geographical wine-producing regions. In the coastal region of Croatia, red wine is mainly produced, while in the dry and barren soils of Croatia' inland, 90% of the wine produced is white.
There are about 200 varieties of grapes planted in the country, of which more than 60 are indigenous varieties and about 140 are foreign varieties. The main grape varieties of white wine are Posip, Grasevina, Chardonnay, Rajnski Rizling, Zlahtina, Sauvignon Bijeli, Traminac, Debit, Grk, and Malvasia. The Grasevina grape is commonly known as the Italian Wells Riesling, and this variety is the most widely cultivated in Croatia.
Plavac Mali is the most important red grape variety in Croatia, grown mainly on the Dalmatian Coast. Pravatsmari wines are full-bodied and rich in taste, high in alcohol and tannins, while slightly less acidic, rich in flavors of blackberries, dark cherries, pepper, carob, dried figs and spices. "Plavac Mali" literally means "small and blue". The importance of this variety is evident in the fact that it was the first in Croatia to have a specific legal appellation.
Croatia's winemaking varieties may be niche, but the wines are full of personality and diversity.
Croatia's well-known wine brands include Babic from Hvar Island, Dingac, Postup and Plavac Mali on the Dalmatian PeleShachi Peninsula, Teran in the west of Istria, Zlahtina on Krk Island, Cabernet in Porec, Vugava on Vis Island, Malmsy in Dubrovnik, Posip and Grg on Korčula Island, etc.
