Plešivica: home of Croatian sparkling wines
Located just an hour’s drive from Croatia’s capital, Zagreb, Plešivica is a continental wine sub-region in the southern part of the Žumberak mountains.
With an east-west orientation, it is a part of the larger Croatian Uplands wine region. Despite its relatively small size of only 2,300 hectares of vineyards, Plešivica is considered one of the most fascinating continental regions.
It is renowned for producing some of Croatia’s finest sparkling and orange/amber and amphorae-aged wines.
Plešivica wine sub-region
To begin with, written records from 1370 indicate that in Plešivica, grapes for wine production were grown for six centuries.
The region’s microclimate is extremely favorable: an altitude of 500 meters keeps the fog away, while the average yearly insolation is 1900 hours with an average temperature of 11°C.
Some of the most unique Croatian vineyards are on steep southern slopes, protecting them from the cold north winds. The vineyards are scattered and inaccessible, so most must be processed manually.
Plešivica’s geographical position has one of the most eclectic wine scenes due to its vicinity to Zagreb, which has a serious growth in the number of tourists all year round.
Thanks to its pleasant climate, Plešivica is a great destination throughout the year. Additionally, wine cellars and hospitality properties are growing both in number and offer, thus leaving visitors satisfied and wanting to return.
Plešivica grape varieties
Popular white grapes grown in the Plešivica region are:
- Chardonnay,
- Sauvignon Blanc,
- Riesling,
- Graševina,
- Pinot Blanc,
- Pinot Gris,
- Sylvaner,
- Rizvanac (Müller Thurgau),
- Traminer (Gewürztraminer),
- Muscat Blanc,
- Muscat Ottonel.
Among red varieties, the most important grape varieties are:
However, it is important to say that there are still some old vineyards with various indigenous grape varieties that make some of the best Cuvée wines in the region.
Another interesting fact is that calcareous soil in the region is similar to that in Champagne and favors sparkling wine production, which has, over the years, become the forte of the Plešivica wine region.
Tomac winery is the pioneer of sparkling and biodynamic winemaking in Plešivica. They were among the first wineries (worldwide!) that made a sparkling wine from a wine aged in an amphora.
Nowadays, many winemakers in the region have their style of sparkling wine. On the one hand, some are very similar to classical champagnes, for example:
