In the space of just four days, two great wine events took place in Slavonia; The Golden Wine End in Trnava on the first Saturday of the month and the Graševina Masterclass, which started on October 9, ends today with the wine festival in Principovac, Iloka.
The Osijek Baranja County has four vineyards; in the west it is the Feričačac vineyard, in the north it is Baranja, in the east it is Erdut, and in the south Đakovo vineyard. There are no wineries in the town of Đakovo; they are located either in Mandićevac, about twenty kilometers to the northwest, or in Trnava, which is about fifteen kilometers to the southeast. Two large wineries have their headquarters in those two places; Đakovo wines (which operate within the Kutjevo concern) are located in Mandićevac, and Misna wines, whose headquarters are in Trnava, are owned by the Archdiocese of Đakovo - Osijek.
In each of those two villages there are several family wineries. If there are no wineries or vineyards in Đakovo, then why Đakovo Vineyards? Because it was the bishops of Đakovo who initiated the planting of vines on the gentle hills of Krndije (Mandićevac) and Dilja (Trnava).
Golden wineend which, after a one-week delay due to rain, took place on October 5 was an ideal opportunity to visit the Đakovo vineyard. The start was in mass wines. Their history goes back to 1716 and almost half of their area is covered by traminec. They harvest by hand. The second point was the school practicum in Trnava, in which students of the secondary vocational school from Đakovo acquire knowledge about enogastronomy and agrotourism. Both aged and young wines were tasted, and the view from the porch of the recently renovated manor house, which is more than a hundred years old, stretches all the way to the Bosnian mountains. As the hosts say, the state border is only 16 kilometers as the crow flies.
There are two more hedonistic points; from the main road it turns up towards the hill to the Zlatarevac wine road. LI Winery is located on Ivan Lukačević's OPG. They have a good frank and a great property decorated in a rustic style. The final stop was the Agro Zlatarevac winery, where other wineries from the Đakovica vineyard - Milanović, Apostol and Hrvoje Lukačević - presented their wines. There was also an intriguing photo point, and you could also enjoy delicious delicacies such as wineburgers and homemade langoustines.
On Wednesday, October 9, the second edition began Graševina Masterclass in the organization of the Graševina Croatica association. The first day was dedicated to a study trip to the Kutjevac vineyards, and the first location was an old barn at the Vidim location owned by the Krauthaker winery. Along with the delicacies prepared by the team from the Grozd restaurant in Slavonski Brod, the pinot noirs of the members of the association were tasted. It is a great honor and joy when such a legend of winemaking as Ivo Enjingi personally pours his wine for you, and kudos to the organizers because they correctly concluded that the first tasting must be right in the vineyard itself.
The next workshop entitled "Consistency of the excellence of wines and wineries" of Graševina Croatica was held in the super modern winery Galić, where the wine is aged in stainless steel, wooden barrels and concrete eggs.
The third workshop in a row called "Terroir 2.0 of the vineyards of Slavonia and Hrvatski Podunavlje" was held at the Sontacchi winery, where the hosts revealed to us that they will soon open a restaurant that will share the name with their famous white wine Superslav. In the recently opened restaurant Slavonska kuća Vinkomir, a tasting dinner was held where selected delicacies were combined with the wines of Slavonia and Croatian Podunavlia.
On Thursday, October 10, a conference was held in the Fortress visitor center "GO graševina Osijek" as part of which two panels were held; the first was dedicated to the current state and perspectives of Croatian winemaking, and the second was focused on how to bring the culture of wine drinking closer to a younger audience through marketing, social networks and influencers.
In Erdut, in the afternoon, ""Open fire tasting” – a wine workshop with lunch (carp on a fork) in the open air, and in the evening, a Graševina Grand Masterclass wine workshop with a tasting dinner was held in Ilok.
Today, on Friday, the Graševina Masterclass opens its doors to all interested wine lovers. From 16 p.m., the Principovac country estate is held Danube wine festival where the attendees will be able to taste the wines of Slavonia and Croatian Danube with the purchase of tasting vouchers. That's why everyone hurry to Ilok today.
