There are four distinctly different wine regions in Croatia, each with different climates, geography and soil. Different varieties are grown in each region. The map above depicts the four regions and the most common varieties in each. We import wines from all four regions – below we list our winery partners by region in the following sequence:
- Dalmatia
- Istria and Kvarner
- Croatian Uplands
- Slavonia and Danube
Dalmatia – The Komarna Appellation
This is Mirena’s “home” area, near where she grew up in Dalmatia, and is the primary focus of our import business.
The Komarna winegrowing area began planting its first grapes in the year 2008, while in April 2013 it received its official designation as an appellation. The Komarna winegrowing area is located in South Dalmatia in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County, on the road from Split to Dubrovnik overlooking the Adriatic Sea. It is a relatively young winegrowing area covering 82 hectares of vineyards planted by seven up and coming producers. The soil of this region is skeletal, made up mostly of limestone and very little earth, with an incline of up to 30%, with vineyards positioned from 250m above sea level and continuing all the way down to the sea. The vineyards face south and southwest and, and owing to their unique location all producers are certified by the EU for organic production. The varieties planted in the vineyards contain 92% of indigenous Dalmatian varieties: Plavac Mali, Pošip, Tribidrag, Maraština and Babić, while the rest are international varieties (Syrah, Chardonnay, Tempranillo, Cabernet, Viognier).
There are currently five winemakers in Komarna with their wines on the market (Saints Hills; Rizman; Volarević, Deak Family Farm and Terra Madre), while two are waiting for their first wines (Cooperatives Modro-zelena, and Neretvanski Branitelj). Two wineries with tasting rooms, Rizman and Terra Madre, have already been built in the area, and the other wineries should be completed soon. A wine trail connecting all the wineries will follow.
The wineries have established their own association under the name Komarna 7, which aims to control the quality of the wine in the Komarna winegrowing region and promote the common interests of the wineries and development of tourism in this region.