Wines and local cuisines are one of Croatia's main advantages and some of the primary reasons foreign tourists come to Croatia, said Croatia's Economy Minister Darko Horvat at the opening of the En Primeur 2020 wine tasting festival, the Croatian Chamber of Economy (HGK ) said in a press release this past week.
At the festival, which was organized by Croatia's winemakers' associations Grasevina Croatica, Vino Dalmacije, and Hortus Croatiae, and by the HGK, more than 60 wineries from three Croatian regions: Slavonija and Podunavlje, Dalmatia, and Medjimurje - presented their wines.
The stars of the festival were grasevina (Welschriesling ), posip, and pusipel wines. Experts and visitors were also offered to taste other types of wine of the vintage of 2019, as well as vintage rose and red wines.
Horvat was quoted as saying that food and wine have great potential not only in agriculture and tourism, but also in the economy as a whole.
The HGK Winemaking Association President Ivica Kovacevic emphasised that "We have excellent wines because our winemaking as a whole is moving forward, following world trends and constantly improving, however, our viticulture is not keeping up, and that poses a problem."
He added that the total area covered in vineyards was constantly growing smaller, which could turn into a serious problem in wine-making in the near future.
The HGK Agriculture and Tourism Vice-president Dragan Kovacevic also emphasised the importance of expanding brand awareness and promoting domestic wines.
"Although we are dissatisfied with the fact that we produce only 75 to 90 million litres of wine yearly, that we are running a foreign trade deficit at €14.5 million, and that our export does not sum up to even 50% of import, it is encouraging that we have increased the export of premium wines, bottled wines, and sparkling wines both in 2018 and in the first 9 months of 2019. Today those goods account for 95% of wine export, and the average export price per litre is double the import price," said Kovacevic.
He said that HGK would continue to work on the international promotion of Croatian wines under the common brand name Vina Croatia Vina Mosaica, using their own funds as well as EU funds for restructuring and replanting vineyards. (Hina/FaH)
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