Grape Varieties Croatian wine

malvasia vine growing on red soil of istria

the grape varieties in use in croatia can confusing foreigners, not because croatian names unfamiliar, because many of varieties may not in use beyond limited area. there indeed many foreign international grape varieties grown in croatia long history of wine production has left rich tradition of indigenous varieties, in more out-lying areas, or more extreme growing conditions. of these have been successful in widespread use within croatia, yet remain relatively unknown outside country. 1 such plavac mali, foundation of many highly regarded dalmatian red wines, such postup, dingač , zlatan plavac.

the well-known napa valley winemaker miljenko mike grgich croatian native, , has argued case zinfandel being descended plavac mali grape. dna testing has demonstrated plavac mali in fact child of true original zinfandel, little-planted grape same area named crljenak kaštelanski.

following devastation of vines phylloxera @ end of 19th century, croatian vineyards replanted grafting traditional varieties on american root stock. few pre-phylloxera vines still survive today on couple of islands (korčula, , susak). in recent years, foreign-based winemakers , investors taking interest in croatia s many indigenous grape varieties. battle against phylloxera continues, broadening gene pool may 1 way prevent recurrence.

the tables below give overview of common varieties, alternative names, , grown.

white wine grapes

red wine grapes