In many respects, the wine offer in Slavonia and Baranja belongs to the "best" group, the largest wine producers in Croatia, the largest wine cellar, the largest vineyard, the largest barrel... dare we say the best Croatian white wines. Therefore, we can rightly say that the east of Croatia is a wine paradise! A piece of this paradise is also Erdut, a picturesque medieval town that rises only a hundred meters above the banks of the beautiful blue Danube and the place where there is probably the largest wine barrel in Europe.
Here you can walk to the medieval towers, the remains of the old city that collapsed into the Danube in ancient times. Erdut is especially loved by anglers, for whom it is a favorite place for fishing. The landscape of the Danube meander in the area of Erdut municipality is a protected landscape. It is also the base from which famous wines with rich flavors and aromas are obtained. The vine has been cultivated and worshiped here since the time of the Roman Empire.
Erdut vineyard
Today and Erdut vineyard dominates Riesling. In addition to it, Traminac, Chardonnay, White Sauvignon, Muscat Ottonel, Pinot White and Grigio, and Rhine Riesling stand out. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir and Zweigelt are grown from black varieties. Numerous wine lovers are gathered here around one of the the largest barrels in Europe, which delights visitors to this interesting region with its size and magnificently carved reliefs, as well as the excellent Erdut wine that matures in it. The barrel is chained with an incredible two and a half tons of shackles, with reliefs of Croatian plait, but also the Last Supper where Jesus holds a chalice with wine, and it was decorated by naive sculptors Tijardović and Fodor.
The Erdut barrel can hold as much as 75.000 liters of wine, and is made of 150-year-old oak. The otherwise popular barrel made of Slavonian oak was built in 1989 by DIK Đurđenovac. The barrel was built by the traditional method of splitting oak arches from a total of 109 oak trunks. The barrel is always full and there is always Graševina in it, which is still a trademark of the Erdut vineyards.
Count Erwin, a lover of cards and wine, was hiding in a barrel
The Erdut cellar is officially three hundred years old and from the time Count Erwin Cech. An interesting legend says that Count Ervin was a passionate card player and winemaker, and while running away from his wife, he hid in one of the large barrels in the basement and played cards with his friends in the barrel. In the Old Cellar from 1730, Ervin built five walled barrels lined inside with glass bricks. All barrels were functional except one.
In that barrel, Ervin arranged an area for playing cards. Servants would help him and his company get comfortable inside. His wife Fanny did not know where he was for several days, while the count would play cards in the barrel with his friends. After the death of his first wife, Ervin built an octagonal tower on the castle, which only fits four card players. Namely, the new, much younger wife, the Hungarian Countess Juliška, allegedly had nothing against her husband's long playing of cards, so she moved the playing of cards from the barrel to the court.
Otherwise, the charter from 1403 proves the first mention of the vineyard in Erdut, which is also our largest vineyard, and will soon mark more than 620 years of written mention of the viticulture and winemaking tradition in Erdut. The Erdut vineyards are the largest vineyards in the Republic of Croatia with a total area of 513 hectares. You can go on a tour of the entire estate the route of Graševina and by cab from the plantation from where the workers go to work in the vineyard early in the morning, through the most beautiful positions from which you can enjoy the view of the Danube. They will take you through Erdut as a count and countess at the beginning of the last century, and in the castle you will have a tasting of the best wines of this region and a dinner in the style of the Erdut counts.
///Graševina Croatica masterclass
Vinkovo is the welcome of the new wine growing year
Vinkovo as it is called in Podunavlje or Vinceška in Baranja respectively St. Vincent's Day, January 22nd it is the day when we celebrate the beginning of the new wine growing year. It is customary to visit the vineyard for the first time in the new year on that day. Regardless of the weather, the owner of the vineyard reaches the vine, cuts off three twigs with three buds, which are then placed inside the house in a container of water by the window. When the twigs sprout, one guesses what the year might be. The vine from which the twigs have been cut is then ceremonially sprinkled - "christened" with old wine and decorated with smoked sausages, bacon and dried ribs, which symbolize the desire for fertility and a good harvest.
///Reserved for true hedonists - Slavonia wine events
St. Every year, Vinka is traditionally celebrated in Slavonia and Baranja, which tell one of the most beautiful wine stories, with endless vineyards, where the largest, most awarded and oldest wine cellars in Croatia are located. Wines of Slavonia and Baranja in recent years, they are increasingly attractive and appreciated and are very competitive on the European market.
///Erdut – the ultimate cycling and hedonistic destination
The region is dominated by as many as four vineyards in the west or Feričanac, south or Đakovo, north or Baranja and east or Erdut. Due to its impressive location on the Danube, the Baranja and Erdut vineyards are also considered the birthplace of "Danube wines". There is almost no Slavonia-Baranja vineyard, cellar or gator where a cheerful company does not relax with music, a good drop of wine and gastronomic delicacies of this region to celebrate Vincekovo.
///We have four wine regions and numerous wine roads
Source: Osijek-Baranja County Tourist Board, Erdut Vineyards
Cover photo: Marko Banić, source: Tourist Board of Osijek Baranja County
