he whole of Croatia abounds in indigenous
grape varieties, and so does our Kvarner
region. The wines made from these varieties are
much easier to taste than to pronounce. For
example: vrbnička žlahtina, trojšćina, jarbola,
suščan crni. To be more precise, it is a Croatian
custom to name the wine after the variety it is
made from. The diversity of indigenous varieties
makes our wine-growing and wine-making
past a rich one. However, for the time being, the
future of Kvarner wines rests almost exclusively
on žlahtina, a white grape variety grown in
Krk and Vinodol vineyards. The most famous
type is vrbnička žlahtina (Žlahtina of Vrbnik)
originating, as its name says, from the Vrbnik
Field and the town of Vrbnik on the Island of
Krk. The numerous Kvarner wine-producers
include: Vrbnik Agricultural Cooperative with
a hundred year old tradition, Frajona, Gospoja
Agricultural Cooperative - Toljanić, Antun
Katunar, Ivan Katunar, Dobrinčić family’s Šipun
Winery, Juranić family’s NadaWinery, and
Petar Čubranić. In the field between Bribir and
Novi Vinodolski, in Novljansko polje, Vrbnička
žlahtina is produced by the PavlomirWinery.
lahtina is a charming, young wine that is
usually left to age for one or two years
at the most. It is an ideal summer wine. It
Žlahtina
The unique Kvarner wine
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combines the sea, citrus fruit, green
apple, chive and wet sea rock fragrances.
Its body is always mild, moderately
warm, as it rarely exceeds 12% alcohol.
It leaves an exceptional mineral and
salty taste in the mouth with a slightly
spicy white pepper finish.When served,
it should never be cooled down below
10ºC, so that it wouldn’t lose its varietal
characteristics, and it is best served in
a classic wine tasting glass. It perfectly
complements the most delicious
crustaceans in the world, Kvarner
scampi, and clams. Due to its pleasant
freshness, it makes a good basis for the
production of classic sparkling wines.
here are numerous sparkling wine
producers in Kvarner, including PZ
Vrbnik, Antun Katunar and Frajona, but
Frajona’s sparkling wine brings by far the
best price and quality ratio. PZ Vrbnik
nurtures one of its series of Valomet
sparkling wines on yeasts at deep-sea
sites (30 m). A bottle of such wine is
very exquisite. The past few vintages of
žlahtina have resulted in the excellent
Ivan Katunar and Šipun (Ivica Dobrinčić)
non-sparkling wines.
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Kvarner Wines
