One of those families that lead the revival of the wineries in Međimurje in the last few decades was the Belović family. Their vineyards and the tradition of winemaking comes from the Lebar family, and the first winemaker in the family of the modern times, Franjo Lebar. He and his son Zvonko started making wines commercially in the early nineties, and soon after they got into winemaking their sauvignon blanc started winning awards and receiving all kinds of compliments, as it was for a long time (and some still say it is) considered the best sauvignon in Croatia. After that they started expanding their vineyards, so these days they own 8 hectares of vineyards on Međimurje hills, on the best southward facing slopes, with just enough sun to allow the vines to gather enough sun during the summer days. They grow the following varieties: sauvignon blanc, traminac, moslavac, grünsilvaner, rhein riesling, chardonnay, yellow moscatto and graševina. But they plan to further expand their vineyards, and plant those varieties that are recommended for the Međimurje region. At the same time, they have built a new cellar, with the top technology used in winemaking. The cellar also includes a wonderful tasting room, where they offer guided tasting for their guests, and even larger groups.
Their sauvignon blanc, as we mentioned, is considered to be one of the best wines of that variety in Croatia. Fresh, usually quite stronger than other sauvignon wines from the region (taking advantage of the south-facing slopes where it grows) it can get up to 15% of alcohol in the sunnier years, spicy and fragrant, perfect along goose or rabbit, or other traditional Međimurje dishes, including mushrooms.
Their semi-sweet traminac is a wonderful, fresh, not too sweet but a very fragrant and aromatic wine, perfect along all types of deserts that are not too sweet, and you should take any opportunity to have some of it with desserts made with chestnuts or pumpkin.
Their graševina is not your typical graševina that is made with gemišt in mind; it’s much more fragrant and delicate, and should be had cooled on its own, as it is a perfect summer wine for slow enjoyment in a good wine.
Belović family winery was and still is on the forefront of Međimurje wine scene, participating in all wine events in the region, as the winemakers in the region try to brand their wines and bring as many people as possible to enjoy wine on Međimurje wine roads, in the proper atmosphere.
