Apart from sparkling wines, the Plešivica wine road hides top-quality orange wines

Tourist stories explored the offer of Zagreb County and the action Vacation Never Closer, and one of the destinations was a very interesting location with a beautiful view of the Plešivica vineyards. After the ride Plešivica wine road from Jastrebarsko I wondered why we go to Tuscany at all, because we have a lot more than Tuscany, and I would say better. The view is indescribable and every now and then I stopped to open the car window and look forward as a small child to having this road revealed to me. I tried wine and food, met wonderful people, and I can't look at and enjoy this view enough.

I discovered Plešivica!! And I’m sure I’ll be a regular guest here.

After only 20 minutes from Zagreb, we found ourselves on Plešivica in Jagunić Winery, which is known to wine connoisseurs for its top sparkling wines. However, it is a big mistake to observe Plešivica and these winemakers only through sparkling wines, because there are still wines here that have been unfairly neglected and somehow are not mentioned enough when it comes to this top wine road. And only when you find out orange wine…. Only then can you comment on Plešivica's offer.

Dominik, the heir to the family wine tradition, which has lasted for several generations, welcomed us at the Jagunić Winery. I immediately made a mistake with the first question: You are the person who is the main "culprit" for all this, so I ask you what is what the Plešivica Wine Road has to offer and is there a bright future ahead of us, are we Croatian Tuscany?

“No, but an accomplice, I just continued one nice family story and upgraded it to sparkling wines and the upcoming segment, and those are orange wines by which Plešivica is I would say vanguard and not only in Croatia, but probably in this part of Europe as well. I am glad that more and more people are recognizing the natural beauties of Pvulture wine roads, this almost untouched nature, beautiful views and of course the synergy of man, nature, food and wine. When it all comes together into one beautiful story then that’s it a real tourist experience”Dominik is ready for journalistic questions because the representatives of the seventh force are frequent guests here.

The whole family works here. Today, when someone looks at you, it will be easy to tell them, they have great wines, they are in Plešivica, they make tens of thousands of bottles…. But tell us what exactly does it really mean to be a winemaker?

"The winemaker is a calling, a profession that cannot be done without passion and love. I always say, if you want to earn a lot and live more carefree, winemaking is certainly not an invitation for you, there are much easier occupations with a lot less stress and more earnings however when you do it with love and a certain dose of passion and if you really love it and are still good at to that, then I think there is no greater satisfaction than that. Winemaking is a complex branch, perhaps the most complex in agricultural production and beyond, because you have to understand the processes in the vineyard, the processes in the cellar, be a marketing expert, a lawyer… A multidisciplinary occupation. But the joke aside is certainly one of the nicer things a man can make a living from, I say we don’t live off wine but we live with it, there are no working hours there. With this job you get up and go to bed, sometimes even at night. Now we start the sparkling wine harvest, the grapes are practically perfect for sparkling wines this year and I think we have a very nice harvest ahead of us”Concludes Jagunić who then took us through the winery and introduced us to sparkling wine, still wines and Orange which he truly was the main wine surprise our visit to Zagreb County and the definitive winner if you ask me.

Many of us may not remember 2020 for good, but hopefully they will wine to be good year, when the bottles will be opened. Our hosts, as every year, will do their best to meet their own, but also the criteria of their consumers and wine lovers. And before To the lambs, who turned seriously quality and excellence and the production of premium bottles with special emphasis on orange wine. there is certainly a bright wine and tourism future that we will be happy to follow with stories because I am sure they will continue to tell them.

And for the end of a great wine story from Plešivica, I must say that this family story would not be complete without an interesting woman hiding in the background in the kitchen. All of you who have been to Jagunić and tasted wine have surely tasted the irresistible local gastrodelica from the kitchen. 75-year-old grandmother Ljubica.

She was so irresistible on the table in front of us zucchini soup with dill, homemade duck with grinders and handmade croquettes as well strudel with cheese and apple. Well done to the masterchef grandmother from Plešivica and a family story that lasts for several generations.