Croatia's Istria Wine Region

Getting back on track with recounting my Adriatic Adventure vacation, we drove from Ljubljana, Slovenia (Slovenia Part 3) to Croatia's Istrian peninsula.  Istria actually has a rather complex and rich history in that it was ruled by the Romans from the second century B.C.; then by the Slav tribes from the seventh century; then by Venice from the thirteenth century; then by the Austrians when the Venetian empire fell in 1797; then by Italy in 1918; then by Yugoslavia in 1945; and then by what we now know as Croatia from 1991.  Needless to say this is very simplified, but it helps explain why there is so much diversity in the region.

We spent a few days in Istria, but our first stops in the region were aimed at trying some local wines.  We had heard that we'd be in town just in time for Open Wine Cellar Day, so we'd planned on going to some of the larger wineries in the area since we were able to find information about them on the internet.  There are a lot of wineries in the area, but unfortunately not all of them have very informative websites like we're used to having for wineries here in the U.S

So long story short, the wineries we thought we'd be visiting actually decided to close for Open Wine Cellar Day.  Instead we followed some road signs (our internet just wasn't working in this rural area!) hoping to find a winery participating in the event.  Thank goodness for Veralda!  Of course we walked up like awkward tourists who weren't exactly sure what to do, but they took us right in.

We were very impressed that they served lunch at the winery, which wasn't something I was accustomed to having only frequented (mostly) Virginia wineries.  Moreover, it was a family-run winery and the homemade food was prepared by the grandmother.  I had the beef while my boyfriend opted for the lamb and it was delicious and at an absolutely wonderful price!

While we avidly consumed our lunch, they gave us a tasting of almost all of their wines.  We tried their Malvasia (white) and Teran (red), which are commonly found in this region.  However, their 2009 Merlot was amazing.  I would happily have bought several bottles of it if we still didn't have half of our trip to go!  It was honestly the best Merlot I've ever tasted.  We left with a bottle of the Merlot and Teran.

After our wonderful experience at Veralda, we drove over to Arman, another winery participating in Open Wine Cellar Day.  Again, great wines...I do wish Croatia was better represented in the wine industry here in the U.S.  Italy, France, etc. aren't the only European countries that make good wine!

Anyway, I digress.  We left with a bottle of their Malvasia, which we enjoyed on our hotel balcony on St. Catherine Island by Rovinj (coming soon!).  Great, refreshing white wine for a hot summer day.  Too bad we drank it all! ;)  If I ever make it back to Croatia, I'd love to spend more time exploring Istria.