Srednja i Južna Dalmacija

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• Soils in this area have developed mainly on limestone and, to a lesser extent, on dolomite; the dominant soil types are terra rossa, brown soils on limestone, and carbonate-grey and brown soils on flysch.
• On the islands and along the coast, terraced surfaces have developed; particularly significant vine-growing terraces have been established on flysch and Quaternary gravels, while terraces on Cretaceous limestone are also present and are characterised by a higher proportion of skeletal material and a lower proportion of fine earth.
• In the karst poljes and river valleys of the coastal belt, deep alluvial soils have formed whose texture ranges from clay loam to sandy loam; some of these poljes lie along the coast, in the Neretva delta and Konavle polje, or on the islands, such as Blato on Korčula.
• A mild Mediterranean climate prevails, with hot summers and mild winters, a mean annual temperature of around 16.9 °C, and a sum of effective temperatures during the growing season from April to October exceeding 2,000 °C.
• Annual rainfall totals approximately 870 mm, with around 300 mm falling during the growing season; precipitation increases from the islands toward the coast and from northwest to southeast, with the highest amounts in autumn and winter and dry periods in summer.

• The first viticultural and winemaking cooperative in Dalmatia was founded in 1903 in Bol on the island of Brač, reflecting the long historical development of viticulture in the region.
• The vine is cultivated, particularly on the islands, among stones, forming a distinctive element of the Croatian cultural landscape.

• The red wines of this area are clear, displaying various shades of garnet red; they are full in alcohol, richly extracted, with tannins of varying degrees of ripeness, and are aromatically complex and rich.
• Wine produced from Pošip is most commonly golden-yellow in colour, high in alcohol, full-bodied and characterful on the palate, with a distinctly varietal aroma.

• Plavac mali achieves outstanding results only on poor, south- and south-west-facing vineyard sites when short pruning and low crop loads are applied, while on inferior 'in the field' sites it produces entirely ordinary wine.

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-A1661
• Official trade body site — Udruženje Vino Dalmacije