December 7, 2021 - The first business presentation and tasting of representative Hvar wines was held at the Cornaro Hotel in Split, called '' The Best of Hvar '', a collaboration between the Hvar Winemakers Association, the Wine Stars Evaluation Project, and the Jelsa Tourist Board.

On Friday, December 3, 2021, at 4 pm at the Cornaro Hotel in Split, the Hvar Winemakers Association organized the first business presentation and tasting of Hvar wines for representatives of the HORECA sector called The Best of Hvar. This event is designed as a continuation of good cooperation between the Hvar Winemakers Association and the Wine Star Evaluation Project which, with the support of the Jelsa Tourist Board, has been organizing a large island wine evaluation for the third year in a row. Every year the wines are getting better, and this is shown by the ratings that we monitor from year to year.

(Photo: Julio Frangen)

At the Split presentation, Bell'Iakov, Vina Carić, Hvar Hills, Vina Leše presented their young wines and new vintages "en primeur" according to the evaluation categories of the 3rd Jelsa Summer Wine Tasting by Vinske zvijezde - bogdanuše, other white wines, plavci - Luviji, Pavičić vina, Vina Svirče, Vina Tomić, Vina Ventus, Podrum Vujnović and Zlatan Otok. The winning wines of this year's evaluation were at a special exhibition place: Bogdanjuša Carić 2020, Pošip Tomić 2020, Hvar Hills Plavac mali Pharos Maxvmus 2013. The wines were accompanied by excellent Hvar extra virgin olive oils, awarded at domestic and international evaluations: Božić Uje, OPG Eva Curin, and OPG Magdalena Plenković oils of Athens.

From left to right: Joško Stella, director of the Split-Dalmatia County Tourist Board; Marija Marjan, director of the Jelsa Tourist Board; Ivana Klarić, director of Cornaro hotel; Marija Vukelić, Wine Star project manager; and Ivana Krstulović Carić, president of the Hvar Winemakers Association. (Photo: Julio Frangen)

The winemakers and business representatives were greeted by the director of Cornaro, the host hotel, Mrs. Ivana Klarić, emphasizing the satisfaction that a special event for Hvar's top winemakers is taking place in the top hotel. Mr. Joško Stella, director of the Split-Dalmatia County Tourist Board, praised the initiative, reminded of previous collaborations with the Hvar Winemakers Association, including an important presentation in Rome, and expressed the wish that such events continue. The director of the Jelsa Tourist Board, Marija Marjan, presented two significant Jelsa projects involving winemakers, oil producers, and family farms - "Wine, Olive and heritage festival" and announced the framework program of the jubilee 70th Jelsa Wine Festival, which is planned for last week in August 2022, Ivana Krstulović Carić, president of the Hvar Winemakers Association, reminded that the association has been operating successfully since 2010: "When we first met, we realized that the branding of island wines is extremely important, The island of wine, from 384 BC. Kr. In conclusion, Marija Vukelić, Wine Star project manager, praised the better ratings of Hvar wines, which give winemakers better visibility and placement in our and foreign markets.

(Photo: Julio Frangen)

Representatives of the caterers were able to taste for the first time at the first joint exhibition place young bogdanuša, wines of the original white variety of the island of Hvar. In the second exhibition place were other white wines of the island of the varieties prč and pošip, and cuvée of white wines, and in a special place were plavci, new vintages on the market and some already existing and renowned. Three categories and three exhibition places gave an insight into the community of winemakers and the top quality of wine from the whole island. Winemakers and guests at The Best of Hvar event were satisfied with the way of presentation, expressing a desire to organize the Zagreb "En primeura Hvar wines".

The wines were accompanied by excellent Hvar extra virgin olive oils, awarded at domestic and international evaluations. (Photo: Julio Frangen)

The Best of Hvar 2021 is the first business event of winemakers on the island of Hvar, popular "B2B" - business to business, which provides caterers with the opportunity to (early) assess the quality of new harvests, purchase (larger quantities) in advance for next season, on favorable terms - but also a reminder of existing harvests and Hvar wines that can be found on the holiday table and under the Christmas tree.

Croatian wines and grapes are among the best in the world, and you can find more information about them in Total Croatia’s Guide to Croatian Wine HERE.

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September 6, 2020 - English-speaking lovers of Croatian wine may find it a challenge to locate the types of wine scores and quality ratings that seem to saturate the rest of the wine world. Programs for wine evaluation do exist in Croatia—the first of them was Vinske Zvijezde, or Wine Stars, launched in 2013. This writer helped judge a recent Vinske Zvijezde competition on Hvar to see how the program works, and reveal the top Bogdanuša, Bogdanuša blends and Plavac Mali on the island.

Each year, Vinske Zvijezde evaluates about 200 wines in small tastings. The judges, all volunteers, are enologists, sommeliers, wine journalists, and people in the wine trade. Judges are aware only of the category of wine being tasted, the vintage and the level of alcohol, and are responsible for scoring the wines for their appearance, aroma and flavor, with the most points awarded for “quality” of aroma and flavor. The judges’ scores are averaged to arrive at the final score for each wine.

(The next sample is poured for judges (from left) Miro Štec, Eva Krištof and Saša Zec. Photo: Julio Frangen)

The key to Vinske Zvijezde is that the competition is open to all wines on the market in Croatia. It is intended “to present the wines that a customer can find in a wine shop,” according to co-organizer Marija Vukelić of Zlatne Riječi, a wine promotion firm in Zagreb. Saša Zec, an enologist and sales and marketing specialist who organizes the tastings with Vukelić, emphasizes, “We don’t depend on any wine producer here in Croatia. Most important is that we are independent and earnest.” Enologist Eva Krištof participated simply “because I love Hvar and Hvar wines.” A former Hvar resident, she brings a keen local wine knowledge to the judging.

The results of each tasting are announced (in Croatian) on the organization’s Facebook page. Wines with scores of 90-100 points are presented with award certificates at a ceremony at the end of the year. Last year’s presentation was at the Vino.com wine festival in Zagreb.

Vinske Zvijezde was founded by three wine journalists—Vitomir Andrić of Večernji list newspaper (retired); Ivo Kozarčanin, an editor at 24sata newspaper; and Željko Suhadolnik, editor-in-chief of Svijet u čaši magazine. Svijet u čaši was the first wine magazine in Croatia, and the first to include ratings.

The top-scoring wines of the tasting of August 29 in Jelsa:

Bogdanuša (from 6 submissions)

1. Pavičić Vina 2019 (48kn)
2. Vina Carić 2019 (50kn)
3. Zlatan Otok 2019 (50kn)

Bogdanuša blend (from 6 submissions)

1. Zlatan Otok Cuvée 2018 (50kn)
2. Vina Carić Cesarica 2019 (55kn)
3. Tomić Beleca 2019 (70kn)

Plavac Mali (from 20 submissions)

1. Vina Carić Plovac Ploški Barrique 2013 (130kn)
2. Hvar Hills Pharos Maximus 2013 (200kn)
3. Vina Leše Plavac Mali 2017 (60kn)