What changed
2026-07-28 11:14 UTC → 2026-07-30 21:50 UTC ·
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In early Early July 2026 Croatia revived its marked the revival of Croatia’s summer wine festivals after a four‑year pause. hiatus. The Vinski grad festival returned to Rijeka with 19 domestic and foreign exhibitors, affordable bottles, food stalls and weekend DJ music. Simultaneously, In Novi Vinodolski, the Okolotorno festival in Novi Vinodolski combined paired wine tasting with traditional crafts, live klapa and tamburica performances, performances and historical reenactments. Later in the month the country’s wine‑tourism infrastructure grew reenactments, and returned on 15 July to Frankopan Square with pastries, rakija, puppet plays and medieval craft stalls. The month also saw two new hospitality projects. Lovor Wine & Bistro in Opatija opened with high‑end in Opatija, offering Mediterranean cuisine, a curated Croatian wine list and a nightly wine bar that stays open until 2 a.m. In the Zagorje region region, a wine hotel opened under the Vitus winery and Trgocentar group, featuring group began operating with 11 rooms, a modern tasting room, cellar and meeting facilities, room and supporting support for the revival of near‑extinct autochthonous varieties such as the historic Belina white Belina. On 15 July the Okolotorno celebration returned to Novog Vinodolsko’s Frankopan Square, offering homemade pastries, rakija, wine, local juices, a puppet play, live bands, medieval craft stalls and costumed historical figures. variety. A boutique Roxanich Winery & Design Hotel opened launched in Motovun, Istria, showcasing featuring natural‑wine production, underground cellar tours and dog‑friendly rooms. By the end of July the The “Vino i vruja” sea‑aging festival on the island of Ika continued its unique practice of extracting roughly 4,500 bottles from 20 m depths depth each August. The event, now involving more than a dozen Istrian and Kvarner wineries, pairs underwater aging with tastings, regional cuisine and cultural performances, further highlighting Croatia’s innovative wine‑tourism offerings. On 1 August 2026 August, divers from the Udruge Ikarski barkajoli recovered the 4,500 sea‑aged bottles, bottles and, after a tasting program with food, music and a night celebration involving the European Wine Knights, lowered newly filled barrels lowered back to the seabed to begin for the next cycle. Participating wineries included Acinger, Kabola, Rossi and others, reflecting the event’s growth to more than a dozen Istrian and Kvarner producers. In parallel, the Istrian wine association Vinistra reported an addition of 80 ha of vineyards in the previous year, emphasizing the expansion of Malvasia plantings and linking wine growth with the region’s tourism assets such as Pula’s Roman amphitheatre and Rovinj’s harbour.