Požega – Slavonia is a county that is rich in history and culture and has long been famous for the production of wine. This county is known as the Golden Valley, given that name by the Roman’s (Vallis Aurea), and lies on fertile Požega plains where food and wine have been produced for thousands of years. With such a long wine producing history, wine enthusiasts will be delighted when visiting the cellars of the region where they can try wines that have been produced by families and companies for generations. Take the company Kutjevo as an example, who can trace the beginnings of their company back to 1232 where a French religious order built a cellar, which is still in use, and started growing vines the Kutjevo region and produced wine. Over the centuries, the religious order move and new owners took control, with many changes of ownership over that time, but the wine production always continued. Visiting wineries like this gives you the chance to walk through Croatian wine history.
As far as wine regions go Požega-Slavonia has three wine regions, Požega – Pleternica, the famous Kutjevo and the tiny region of Pakrac.
Požega – Pleternica
Located at the foot of the Požega hills in the golden valley, Požega vineyards sit at about 400m above sea level and here you’ll find a wide range of grape varieties including graševina, riesling, traminer pinot gris, yellow muscat, sauvignon blanc, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir and merlot planted over the 390 hectare region. Interestingly there are two micro wine regions that lie just above Pleternica called Klikun and Starac which are considered one of the best vine-growing locations in continental Croatia and historically the wines from here were consumed in the Viennese court.
Kutjevo
Kutjevo has to be the most famous wine region in Croatia. Every Croatian knows Kutjevo and it’s most famous wine graševina, which is Croatia’s most popular white wine. Located in the peripheral areas of the golden Požega valley, on the slopes of the Papuk and Krndija mountains, this region has some of Croatia’s best wine producers, which includes Krauhaker, Galić, and the Kutjevo. Krauthaker winery is an absolute must visit winery, where they grow a whopping 38 grape varieties and produce one of the countries best graševina wines. Krauthaker has a brilliant tasting room where you will be expertly guided by their sommelier through all their wines, and if you’re lucky you’ll get to meet Vlado Krauthaker, the owner of the company, yourself. Another must visit winery is Kutjevo (the company) and their magnificent wine cellar which holds an interesting archive of wine and will take you through the magical historical operation and then take you through a tasting.
Some of the wines being produced in Kutjevo include graševina, riesling, pinot gris, traminer, white pinot, yellow muscat, cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir, chardonnay, and sauvignon.
Pakrac
This little-known wine region is very small with only 20 hectares of vineyards and is located west of Požega. One of the young winemakers Saśa Ćasić, has made a name for himself in this wine region starting his winery at the age of 19. These days he is producing some great sauvignon, pinot gris, riesling, and traminer. If you’re looking to get a little off the beaten path this wine region is well worth a visit.
For more information on the Požega – Slavonia wine regions go to their website.
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