Osijek was for the third time the host of a festival of wine, delicacies and pleasant living – WineOS, edition 2016. The manifestation took place in the centre of town in the Esseker Centre, with Slavonian and Danube Region exhibitors joined by producers of wine and delicacies from other regions in Croatia and neighbouring countries. Some 70 exhibitors presented on around 800 sq uare metres. Seminars and educational workshops were held for businessmen, traders, sommeliers, caterers, journalists and all lovers of wine and gastronomy.
WineOS was defined as being focused on business guests and visitors intrigued by wine and domestic delicacies. Head of the organisation Vinko Ručević pointed out the festival is completely dedicated to table culture, wine and food as an integral part of the tourism offer and best ambassador of every destination.
Danube wines and comparison of different wine varieties from various countries along the Danube was the main theme of the 2016 WineOS. It was a good opportunity to meet producers and drinks made along the Danube in Austria, Hungary, Serbia and Hungary.
Danube truly is a river where some of the finest European wines are born. Danube is, after Volga, the second longest European river, the longest on EU territory. It originates from two sources in Germany, stretching through an additional nine countries – Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldavia and Ukraine before pouring into the Black Sea, some 2.860 kilometres long. Danube has had a connection to vines since Roman times. All the names of the river come from the Latin word Danubius, the Roman god of rivers.
Looking at the importance of the river, it would have been beneficial to gather in one afternoon wine producers along the Danube and organise, with good advertising, a workshop which would present wines and varieties present in different regions along the Danube and certainly a workshop about more significant wine growing regions and typical varieties. Touring the exhibition space I saw Croatian producers tied to the Danube, but did not notice certain wine brands from abroad. There was the Zvonko Bogdan winery from Serbia and a Hungarian winery from Villanya but as the organiser did not offer a participant list, I cannot be certain if anyone else was there from the Danube Region. A show which wants to have a business dimension simply cannot take place without a catalogue with a list of exhibitors and their contacts.
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