Adžić family winery in Kutjevo is one of those wineries in Slavonia with a very long family tradition of making wine. The winery is located in Kutjevo, a well known region of vine-growers, where the records show that grapes have been cultivated since the 13th century. There, on the southern slopes of the Krndija hill, lie some of the best positioned vineyards in Slavonia, at locations Hrnjevac, Venje and Mitrovac. Adžić family owns around 10 hectares of vineyards there, and have been making wine commercially since 1994. The winery is, as are many other wineries in Croatia, run by a father-son team, Antun and Željko. But not many wineries have such as strong connection to football, as son Željko is a former professional player, member of the Croatian national team and the scorer of the first goal scored in the First Croatian Football league – back in 1992.
Most of Adžić vineyards are graševina vines, as the variety is the most important one in Kutjevo region, and the rest is rhein riesling, pinot grigio and noir and zweigelt. All of their wines are made in their cellar without the addition of selected yeast; rather they get fermented using the natural yeast with temperature control.
Graševina is, as we said, their pride and joy, and they’ve got two labels for the wine: the basic line and the “golden” label, made from the selected grapes that have grown on the best positions on Hrnjevac. Both are premium wines, and if you get the chance, taste them both, to see why the family has decided to give them different labels. Adžić’s graševina is a dry, fresh wine, with great acids and quite high alcohols for a graševina, one of the favourites of that variety with the experts in Croatia, and many awards and medals it has received over the years only confirm that.
Their rhein riesing has also won many medals, and is often considered to be among the best of the variety in Slavonia. Semi-dry, fruity, fresh, well balanced, it does not get much better than this to go along your fish such as bream or dentex. Both pinot grigio and pinot noir made by the Adžić family show the best varietal characteristics possible, taking full advantage of the fermentation conditions. And their zweigelt, a variety that is often underestimated, is also a very serious, mineral and somewhat earthy wine.
The family has built a wonderful cellar and a tasting room, where they enjoy visitors who like tasting and talking about wine, so when you visit Kutjevo, make sure you visit them as well, as the quality of their wines and their hospitality are an excellent combination for any wine-lover.
