Day 2 – May 16

Lashed by Bora Winds at Vrbnik

The excellent breakfast at the beautifully curated glass extension of Hotel Verbenicum with pleasing outdoor visuals, was marred by the news that due to the bora (bura) winds, the Krk Bridge had been closed-we were cut off from the world! This is when we realised that what we had experienced the previous night were the bora winds that lash the island at the rate of up to 200 kms / hour and are caused by very strong cold wind that blows from the northeast onto the Adriatic region of Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia. As the cold wind comes down, it picks up a massive speed that reminds one of the mistral winds at Châteauneuf-du-Pape. It is generally welcome by the locals as it brings freshness in the air and vitalizes the body. But when it turns ferocious, it can cause severe damages, obliging the closure of the Krk Bridge connecting Krk Island with the mainland.

This turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Our exit closed, we were driven to the village of Marinska which has a beautiful Promenade and also Duboak– a Marine Heritage Center which has several interactive stations that disseminate a lot of interesting information about the oak and its use in making boats. Excellent for those interested in boats.

By the time we finished visiting the center and a Presentation and started to parade back to the coach, the news came that the bridge had been opened to all traffic. After a short ride and walk in the Krk City, it was time for a quick Lunch at a restaurant called Rivica Restaurant, known for its sea-food, before exiting  the island. The Sea-food served quickly was delicious.

Novi Vinodolski and Codex 1288

We were fortunate to keep our date with the Pavlomir Winery in the small tourist town of Novi Vinodolski in the Vinodol Valley which had undergone revitalization in 1994 with the arrival of war refugees from Vukovar that included its owner Miroslav Palinkaš. The area is known for Vinodol Codex from 1288 AD, a book defining laws, which also mentions wine and locals are proud of it.

The codex regulates guards in the vineyards; it mentions wine, taverns, and wine cellars and their workers. Almost all the statutes of this and other medieval towns of coastal Croatia have rules that are still applicable today- such as the enjoyment of wine with sobriety or the ban on selling wine to drunkards!

As a winegrower and winemaker by profession, Miroslav knew what this valley needed. He had the family tradition of grape and wine production in Šarengrad where he still co-owns 4 hA of Graševina grapes, with his family. Built gradually, the winery has today 40 hA of land with 31 hA of vineyards. In the heart of the vineyard, a new wine cellar and a tasting room were created, where many visitors including us enjoy wine tasting, including those that have undergone sea.

It was an interesting feature to taste a Cabernet Sauvignon aged under Sea and compare with the normal-aged wine of the same vintage. It seems that Croatia, and especially Dalmatia has become a center for aging under sea/lake. Several producers are experimenting with the process. There was not a discernible difference between the two except that the sea-aged version tasted a bit younger and more elegant, but the price difference at every winery was heart-pounding (perhaps due to the cost of the process), this winery included.

There was a long but beautiful ride lasting over 4 hours to Šibenik in Dalmatia in the south of Croatia.  An excellent dinner was awaiting the visitors at the Bronzin Restaurant where Leo Gracin, president of the Association of Dalmatian Wines welcomed us with a team of officers in the restaurant full of locals enjoying a boisterous gastronomical evening. The dinner was excellent with over 12 wines to taste from different producers.

The evening ended in yet another new hotel- Hotel Ivan in Amadra Park-clearly the best property we had visited in Croatia, the location and prices included. I would strongly recommend a stay here if you ever visited Šibenik.

Day 3- May 17

After a hearty and excellent breakfast the coach was ready to take us to our first stop, The Testament Winery.

Tradition with Touch of Modern

The Testament Winery, surrounded with expansive vineyards, does not look impressive from outside but the wines are superlative, thanks to a young team that has taken the winery to several markets overseas -it exports 50% of its produce in a short span of 4 years.

One of the reasons could be its Rock star winemaker and Director Juraj Sladić . He took us through a wide range of wines made not only from indigenous grapes like Debit, Pošip and Babić but also Plavac Mali and international grapes. A new chic winery has been designed and will be soon erected. A visit to the winery when ready, is already in my bucket list.

Lunch in the village

We had lunch at a quaint little Taverna Komba Campanello in Mirlovic Zagora – where we tasted wines from Sladić Maraśtina with delicious local mea. The humble producer, Mr. Sladić had come personally to showcase his wines.  Leo Gracin, president of the Association of Dalmatian Wines and the director Teo Bikić also joined us for the program.

Baraka Boutique Winery

There was yet another winery- a boutique one at that, on our way to Zagreb. Baraka Winery is a family run winery managed by Filip Baraka in Šibenik. Not only were the wines a cut above the rest, Filip had taken the trouble of inviting a couple of neighbouring producers to showcase a wider canvas of Šibenik and its grapes. The local grapes for white wine in Dalmatia are Debit and Pošip for white wine and Babić for red. After tasting over 30 wines, one could say that all 3 grapes yield a delicious wine. https://baraka.co/

Mövenpick was an excellent choice in Zagreb, though we reached at 9 pm. The hotel is only 15 minute drive from the airport and my taxi brought me well in time to catch the uneventful but comfortable flight to Delhi via Doha- excellent flight unlike the nightmarish journey with Turkish Airline on way to Venice earlier, which saw 3 flights I was involved in- all running late, a missed flight making me spend extra 6 hours in Istanbul, an indifferent approach by everyone from the Airline to the airport officials with nobody to coordinate the flight to and from Istanbul. It had taken me 24 hours to reach my Hotel Parentium in Proveć (Istria).

This was one of the most exciting journeys I have undertaken for winery visits. What a beautiful country Croatia! I was in love with its unique wines even though they were a bit expensive. I would love to go back soon, but the room tariffs are rather high, Croatia being a melting point of tourists from across Europe though Indians have also got the wind of it as a fabulous travel destination. One frequently finds Indians working in the vineyards as well in recent years.

I would not advise a visit during the high season in July and August if you have budgetary constraints. But one can find affordable accommodation during the other months. For this visit I am obliged to Concours Mondial de Bruxelles and Vinistra who did an amazing job.

Also Read: CMB2023: Memorable Wine Tasting Trip of Croatia (Part 1)

Subhash Arora