January 12, 2022 – Celebrated Croatian-American Chef Richard Gruica has a big enthusiasm for local wine and food. This Saturday he'll lead curious gastronauts through a culinary tour of Zagreb County Jastrebarsko on Wine Country Getaway.

These days, it's easier than ever to find great local food in Croatia's capital. But, if you're searching for authentic Zagreb dishes, what you'll actually find is a cuisine of shared provenance.

For the most part, Zagreb food is actually the traditional menu of Zagreb County and Zagorje. These largely rural areas supply the homes, hotels and restaurants of Zagreb with much of their best food and wine.

In villages and towns surrounding Zagreb, traditional skills are used to get the very best from the land. Often, this know how has been passed down over many generations.

Croatian-American chef Richard Gruica has a big enthusiasm for local wine and food. Splitting his time between the US and Zagreb, there's actually nothing better he likes than setting off on a voyage of culinary discovery in Zagreb County. Thankfully, there's lots to explore.

This Saturday, 15th January, Richard is sharing some of the secrets he's found in Zagreb County Jastrebarsko on Wine Country Getaway. He'll take a small group from Zagreb to one of Croatia's premium wine-growing regions. There, you'll try some of the best wines made in continental Croatia, while learning about indigenous grapes and traditional methods. After sampling the wines, you'll be treated to a meal of traditional local food, with wine paired to the dishes.

Richard's Wine Country Getaway will visit Plešivica, Jastrebarsko, the Samobor Hills, and the southern part of the Žumberak mountains. The tour will visit the estate of a renowned local winemaker. You'll also drop in on a traditional copper – he's the only one in this region still making wooden barrels in the traditional way. After taking in the tradition, you'll head into the hills to enjoy a traditional lunch in a rustic wooden hillside tavern. Richard's tour will conclude with a trip into town for a famous dessert.

Richard's tour of Zagreb County Jastrebarsko on Wine Country Getaway includes

• Transportation

• Cooperage visit and tour

• Wine tasting and tour

• Gourmet lunch with appetizer, choice of entrée and paired wine

• Dessert

All guests will be picked up in front of Hotel Academia (Ul. Ivana Tkalčića 88) at 11am on Saturday 15th January. You'll return to Zagreb at approximately 7.30pm. The cost for Zagreb County Jastrebarsko on Wine Country Getaway is 500 Kn or 75 USD. You can book your place and get more information here.

November 29, 2021 - The first phase of the Gourmet tourism project - GoWine - was presented in Samobor. It includes the tourist boards of Jastrebarsko, Samobor, and Sveti Ivan Zelina with the approval of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports and the support of the Zagreb County Tourist Board.

In the first phase of the Gourmet tourism project GoWine, a map of wine roads was made in a circulation of 5,000 copies, followed by the website www.gowine.hr, the corresponding logo, and an application for an interactive virtual walkthrough of the wine roads. This is the result of several tourist boards carrying out activities together to develop a tourist product and promote the destination, reports HRTurizam.

The GoWine website and an interactive map provide an overview of all members of the three wine roads from Zagreb County, the availability of their direct contacts, and navigation to each of the wineries.

"Zagreb and Zagreb County form a space through which a large number of visitors, businesses, and tourists pass during one year, and the local population often chooses Zagreb County wine roads for their weekend destination. Therefore, Martina Paladina, director of the Samobor Tourist Board, Petra Masnec, director of the Tourist Board of Jastrebarsko, and my little tourist board decided to produce an interactive tool that would allow you to quickly find the desired location and a unified and complete list of destinations. Therefore, in the first phase of the project, we dedicated ourselves to the wine roads of our county, followed by accommodation and catering facilities and rural households," said the director of the Sveti Ivan Zelina Tourist Board and project coordinator Marinka Zubčić Mubrin, adding that the project established a basis for integrated gourmet tourism management to create a recognizable tourist destination product that they believe will be an excellent boost to the competitiveness of Zagreb County tourism.

Reducing the fragmentation of information and a more extensive overview of the gourmet offer of this area makes the decision easier for visitors. In addition, it opens new business opportunities for winemakers and other tourist activities.

Thus, domestic and foreign wine tourists, residents of Bregova Hrvatska, and all other passers-by who want to explore the wine roads of Zagreb County now have a new tool that makes it easier for them to find and travel to their favorite wine destinations.

The interactive virtual walk and web application are done by Otokar Crnalić from the 360 Provideo agency. The logo and wine list were created by Marko Jovanovac from the Symbol agency, while the GoWine website was made by Goran Kukočevac from Getim.

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