Croatia
Continental and Mediterranean
A country of two wine worlds, continental Slavonia and the Adriatic coast, with a wealth of local grapes and the homeland of the grape known in California as Zinfandel.
Overview
About Croatia
Croatia's vineyards fall into two main zones: the continental north and east, around Slavonia and Zagorje, which make mostly white wines from Graševina (Welschriesling) and others, and the coast and islands, from Istria to Dalmatia, where red Plavac Mali and whites such as Malvazija Istarska and Pošip are the leaders.
It is the birthplace of Tribidrag, or Crljenak Kaštelanski, identified as the original of California's Zinfandel and Italy's Primitivo, and of Plavac Mali, the descendant of Zinfandel and Dobričić.
Where is a grape grown?
Hover a marker to see what's grown there, and click it to open that place. On a touch screen, tap once to preview and again to open. Bigger markers have more grapes linked to them.
Croatia
The land
Climate & terroir
Climate
Continental and Mediterranean
Continental inland, with cold winters and warm summers, and Mediterranean along the Adriatic, with hot, dry summers and mild winters. Sea breezes cool the coastal vineyards.
Terroir & soils
What the vines grow in
Fertile loess and clay in the inland plains, and limestone karst with red terra rossa on the coast and islands.
Go deeper
How the wines are classified
Croatian wine has three quality tiers by law, alongside the EU's protected designations of origin.
Vrhunsko vino
Premium wine, with the strictest rules for ripeness and yield.
Kvalitetno vino
Quality wine from a defined area.
Stolno vino
Table wine, without a named origin.
Within Croatia
Regions
Dalmatia
The sun-baked Adriatic coast and islands, home of Plavac Mali and the ancestral Zinfandel, on steep limestone slopes above the sea.
Istria
A hill-town peninsula in the north Adriatic, known for fresh Malvazija Istarska, the red Teran and truffle-and-olive-oil dining.
Plešivica
The hills south-west of Zagreb, Croatia's home of traditional-method sparkling wine and cool-climate whites.
What's grown here
Grapes
Grapes linked to Croatia or to a place within it. Each grape's page links back here.