April the 4th, 2023 - Festigia taste&shop, Agrolaguna's newest tasting room and store, has opened in Porec with the aim of further enriching the already enviable gastronomic and wine offer of the Istrian peninsula.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, last week, the brand new Agrolaguna tasting room and shop for the sale of Istrian cheeses, olive oils and wines was opened in Porec at Mate Vlasica 34. The new Festigia taste&shop concept will see Agrolaguna enrich the offer of eno-gastro tourism across Istria. The new store's opening was attended by Fabris Perusko, the CEO of the Fortenova Group, Sotiris Yannopoulos, the Executive Director of the Fortenova Group for the Food Business Area, Nerina Zec, the President of the Agrolaguna Management Board, Loris Persuric, the Mayor of Porec, and Boris Miletic, the Prefect of Istria County.

The newly opened Festigia taste&shop store will offer its customers and visitors a very wide large selection of top Festigia and Vina Laguna wines, Ol Istria olive oils and Spin Istrian cheeses. Thematic evenings and education about wine, oil and cheese will all also be organised in the tasting room. During consumption, guests and customers will be made intimately familiar with the entire process and experience of creating Agrolaguna's top products. The goal is for this shop and tasting room to also be a favourite meeting place for all gourmet lovers who appreciate local Istrian products.

"The complete renovation of this facility is an important part of the transformation of Agrolaguna into a modern producer of wine, oil and cheese, which is a change that the Fortenova Group supports both organisationally and through investment. The top quality of our products has been confirmed by numerous international awards, and bearing in mind the tourism potential of this entire region, with this new concept we're making a step forward in presenting what it has to offer, because as important as tourism is for the overall development of Istria, is equally important as a lever for the development of Agrolaguna.

It's our wish that the tasting room, as well as some other parts of the company, such as the vineyard or the cellar, become an indispensable point of the tourist offer of this region. In this way, the company is confirming its responsibility towards the environment, contributing to the construction of modern destination tourism, and at the same time developing a partnership relationship with the local community,'' said Fabris Perusko, Fortenova's CEO.

Nerina Zec, president of the Agrolaguna Management Board, also spoke on the occasion of the opening of the Festigia taste&shop store: "This new concept represents a great opportunity for us to showcase our long-term and new customers how much knowledge, experience and expertise we continue to invest in the production of high-quality, local Istrian products. Our new Festigia tasting room and store offers a unique shopping and tasting experience, which will enable all customers and visitors to get even closer to Istrian culture."

Boris Miletic, Istria County's prefect, spoke at the opening about the importance of promoting Istrian products and the county's wine and gastronomic offer, as did Loris Persuric, Porec's mayor: "Every city would be proud to have such a large manufacturer in its ranks, but it isn't only large, it's also of high quality. Olive oil, cheese, wine, all of these are products marked by their numerous awards for excellence. That's why I'd like to congratulate you for deciding to open a new tasting room and boutique today, because your products deserve it. I believe that this boutique will quickly become a favourite place for all those who want to take the taste of Porec and Istria back home with them. I'd also like to congratulate the people who create these products and I wish them much success in their future business."

The long-standing tradition of Agrolaguna connects a modern approach and the quality of local products; premium wines from 630 hectares of vineyards, extra virgin olive oils from more than 65,000 olive trees and hard cheeses produced exclusively from fresh domestic milk from Croatian farms. These are high-quality products, the quality of which is best demonstrated by numerous awards won at prestigious Croatian and international competitions, and it's precisely the new Festigia taste&shop store that will enable their better presentation and promotion.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated business section.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 27th of October, 2020, this year, the wines of Istria's much loved Agrolaguna - Castello Festigia 2017, Riserva LV 2016 and Cabernet Sauvignon Festigia 2017, returned from Italy, more precisely from the competition "Emozioni dal Mondo: Merlot and Cabernet Insieme'', with gold medals. Vina Laguna's Castello Festigia 2017 also won the award for the best wine from Croatia.

"It is a great honour for the second year in a row to win the award for the best wine from Croatia at such a prestigious competition, whose focus is on the black varieties Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon and their blends. These golds have an even greater shine for us, considering that the award-winning wines from the 2017 vintage of the Festigia line have only recently been placed on the market. We're extremely proud of every award we've received. They are one of the indicators of the continuity of the quality of our wines,'' said Milan Budinski, director of winemaking and production of Agrolaguna, which produces Vina Laguna.

During the three days of the competition, which stretched from October the 15th to the 17th, more than 152 samples from 12 countries were tasted in the beautiful Italian city of Bergamo. In addition to the gold-awarded Agrolaguna wines, the jury was especially impressed by the black blend Castello Festigia (2017), meaning that this is the second year in a row that in which wine from Agrolaguna has been declared the best wine from Croatia.

It is a black blend that includes international varieties, Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, but the wine exudes an Istrian spirit. It best shows all the characteristics of what are considered to be excellent Istrian red wines: elegance, complexity, softness, and with a deep and vibrant colour, accompanied by the freshness of the special Istrian temperate, climate and the warmth of Istrian red wine.

"Emozioni dal Mondo: Merlot and Cabernet Insieme" is otherwise one of the most prestigious European oenological competitions and is the only one in the world that focuses on Merlot and Cabernet and their blends, and is held under the auspices of the prestigious international organisation OIV - the International Organisation of Vine and Wine.

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