Hrvatsko primorje

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The relief is characterised by karst landforms with steep, rocky, and terraced surfaces alternating with karst poljes, and the vineyards are situated at elevations of up to 250 m above sea level along the coastal zone.
• Soils are predominantly developed on limestones; the most common types are typical and luvic terra rossa, anthropogenic karst soils, and ripped loess soil, while rendzina on marl and brown soil on limestone and dolomite are classified as moderately restricted soils due to their shallower rooting depth and steeper terrain gradients.
• The Vinodol valley is filled with flysch deposits and Pliocene–Quaternary sediments, and its fields are covered with a mixture of terra rossa and weathered flysch.
• The island of Susak is characterised by cultivated soils developed on fine-grained aeolian sand — loess — while its limestone bedrock has been levelled by erosion, which has filled the karstified pores and fissures with terra rossa.

• The Bakar terraces, known as prezide — dry-stone walls on the slopes of Bakar Bay — were built by laying stones in a stepped fashion without binding materials, and grapevines were planted on the terraces created in this way.
• Dry-stone walls (gromače), built from stones laid in steps without binding materials, are present on all the major islands of this area, and they protect the vineyards from the winds of bura and jugo.
• In 1908, 96% of the island of Susak was under vine, at a time when both area under cultivation and production were increasing as a result of reduced competition.
• Sparkling wine from the Žlahtina variety is produced by the traditional method of secondary fermentation in bottle, after which the bottle spends the greater part of its production period of one to three years submerged at a depth of approximately 30 metres.

• The white wines of this area are described as clear, with a greenish-yellow colour, light and fresh in character, with pleasant aromas, medium to high alcohol, and harmonious, well-balanced acidity.
• Red wines, most commonly produced from the Cabernet sauvignon and Plavina varieties, are full in extract, with moderately ripe tannins and good acidity, making them well suited to malolactic fermentation and ageing in oak.

• The high annual rainfall does not harm the vines, as the soils in this area are mostly shallow in profile, well-drained, and of low water-holding capacity owing to a low proportion of clay particles, which allows for the production of fresh, light, and well-balanced wines.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in Croatia

Sources

• eAmbrosia register (EU) — File number PDO-HR-A1650
• Official trade body site — Udruženje Kvarner Wines (Vina Kvarnera)