Croatia

Croatia curves along the Adriatic Sea like a boomerang, its 1,777 kilometers of coastline dotted with over 1,200 islands, its waters so clear you can see the bottom from moving ferries. This is the country that gave the world the necktie (named after Croatian soldiers – "cravate"), the torpedo, and some of Europe's most spectacular preserved medieval architecture.

For decades hidden behind the Iron Curtain and then scarred by the brutal independence war of the 1990s, Croatia has emerged as one of Europe's most desirable destinations. Game of Thrones filmed King's Landing within Dubrovnik's walls. Yacht charterers discovered what sailors had known for centuries – that the Dalmatian islands offer perhaps the finest cruising in the Mediterranean. And millions of visitors found that the country delivers on its promise: ancient cities where cars are banned, waterfalls cascading through forested lakes, villages where wine is still made in family cellars.

The catch? Croatia is no longer a secret. In 2024, the country welcomed a record-breaking 21.8 million arrivals and a record 110 million overnight stays. Peak summer brings crowds that can overwhelm Dubrovnik's narrow streets and price hotel rooms at Riviera rates. But the country remains accessible off-peak, and rewards those who venture beyond the headlines – inland to Zagreb's café culture, north to Istria's truffle forests, or simply to the quieter islands where Croatian rhythms persist.

Croatia is one of Europe's most underrated wine nations — a country where viticulture stretches back over 2,500 years to Greek colonists who planted the first vines on the Dalmatian islands. With over 130 indigenous grape varieties, a coastline that mirrors Italy's across the Adriatic, and a winemaking tradition that survived Ottoman rule, Habsburg empire, Yugoslav communism, and a devastating independence war, Croatia has emerged in the 21st century as one of the most exciting and distinctive wine regions in the world. The country's DNA connection to Zinfandel — Croatia's Crljenak Kaštelanski was proven in 2001 to be the genetic parent of California's signature grape — sent shockwaves through the wine world and put Croatian wine firmly on the international map.

Dingač — Croatia's Grand Cru · The steep, sun-baked terraces of Dingač on the Pelješac Peninsula produce Croatia's most celebrated red wine from Plavac Mali — a grape genetically linked to California's Zinfandel.

🗺️ Two Wine Worlds

Croatian wine divides neatly into two distinct identities along geographic lines. The Continental Region (Kontinentalna Hrvatska) — encompassing Slavonia, the Danube plains, and the hills around Zagreb — produces predominantly white wines from Graševina (Welschriesling), Škrlet, and Kraljevina, with a style closer to Austrian and Hungarian traditions: fresh, mineral, and elegant. The Coastal Region (Primorska Hrvatska) — Istria, Kvarner, and Dalmatia — is Mediterranean to its core, producing full-bodied reds from Plavac Mali and aromatic whites from Malvazija Istarska and Pošip. These two wine worlds could not be more different, yet together they give Croatia a versatility that few small countries can match.

🍇 The Noble Grapes of Croatia

Plavac Mali is Croatia's red flagship — a thick-skinned, late-ripening variety that produces deeply colored, tannic wines with notes of dried cherry, fig, Mediterranean herbs, and dark chocolate. It thrives on the sun-scorched, south-facing slopes of the Pelješac Peninsula and the islands of Hvar, Brač, and Vis. At its finest — from the Dingač and Postup appellations — Plavac Mali produces wines of genuine complexity and aging potential that rival the best of southern Italy. The 2001 UC Davis DNA study proved that Plavac Mali is the offspring of Crljenak Kaštelanski (= Primitivo = Zinfandel) and Dobričić, establishing Croatia as the ancestral homeland of one of America's most beloved grapes.

Malvazija Istarska dominates the white wine landscape of Istria, producing wines that range from light, fresh, and citrusy (stainless steel) to rich, golden, and honeyed (oak-aged and macerated). The best Istrian Malvazijas — from producers like Kozlović, Coronica, and Kabola — combine Mediterranean warmth with an almost Burgundian complexity, showing notes of acacia, stone fruit, and the region's famous red terra rossa soil. Pošip, native to Korčula island, offers a rounder, more tropical profile with notes of peach, almond, and dried herbs, and has become Dalmatia's most fashionable white. Graševina may be less glamorous, but in the hands of Slavonian masters like Krauthaker and Kutjevo, it produces crisp, mineral whites that punch well above their weight class.

🏔️ Dingač & Postup — Croatia's Grand Crus

Dingač, Croatia's first protected wine appellation (2001), occupies a dramatic amphitheater of steep, terraced vineyards on the southern face of the Pelješac Peninsula, dropping directly toward the Adriatic. The vines receive intense direct sunlight plus reflected heat and light from the sea below, creating a microclimate of extreme ripeness. Dingač wines are powerful (often 14-15% ABV), deeply colored, and complex, with a signature character of dried figs, carob, and smoked herbs. Postup, located just west of Dingač, produces slightly more elegant, structured wines from the same Plavac Mali grape. Together, these two appellations represent the pinnacle of Croatian red winemaking.

🍷 Istria — Croatia's Tuscany

The Istrian peninsula has earned the nickname "Croatia's Tuscany" — not just for its rolling hills, truffle forests, and medieval hilltop towns, but for a wine revolution that has transformed it into one of the Mediterranean's most exciting regions. Beyond Malvazija, Istria produces excellent Teran (a local name for Refosco), a deeply pigmented, iron-rich red with bracing acidity and notes of sour cherry and wild herbs. The region's winemakers have embraced both modern techniques and ancient ones: the trend of macerated (orange/amber) Malvazija — extended skin contact in amphorae or large oak — has produced some of Croatia's most talked-about wines internationally. Producers like Clai, Roxanich, and Meneghetti have gained cult followings among natural wine enthusiasts worldwide.

🥃 Rakija — The Water of Life

No Croatian home is complete without a bottle of homemade rakija — the fruit brandy that serves as welcome drink, medicine, digestif, and social lubricant rolled into one. The most common varieties are šljivovica (plum), travarica (herb-infused), lozovača (grape marc), and orahovac (walnut). In Dalmatia, maraschino — a cherry liqueur from Zadar with centuries of history — and prošek, a sweet dessert wine from sun-dried grapes (Croatia's answer to vin santo), round out the traditional spirits repertoire. Every Croatian grandmother will insist her rakija cures everything from colds to heartbreak, and after enough glasses, you'll believe her.