The easternmost county in Croatia, Vinkovci-Srijem County is a well known wine-making region, but does not have a long tradition or a large selection of wine bars. The first one that was open in the region is Gymnasium wine bar, located in the centre of the town of Vinkovci, in the pedestrian zone next to the monument to the Orion, one of the oldest indo-european calendar systems found in Vinkovci and turned into a pavement schematic recently. And, yes, of course, the high-school is also across the street, that’s how the bar got its name, though hopefully not many of the students frequent the establishment.
The wine bar offers a wine selection of Croatian wines on their wine list, the list containing around 50 labels that are not permanent, but the list is rather fluid. Many of the wines offered (sometimes it can be said that it’s “most offered wines”) are available by the glass, and the accent of the list is on the local, Slavonian wines, as the local customers obviously appreciate local wines that they are most used to drinking. They do, however, offer some wines from the other Croatian regions, such as plavac mali from the south of Dalmatia or malvazija from Istria, and neither of those were traditionally loved in eastern Slavonija. Additionally, one of the specials on the wine list is the selection of wines made by the well known singer, Zvonko Bogdan, in his winery in Vojvodina – and he frequently sings at the bar as well!
In addition to wines, this wine bar also offers excellent Stretto coffee (we’ve seen comments that it’s probably the best coffee in Vinkovci, around a dozen types of beer including some very popular Croatian craft beers, many very popular cocktails and quite a wide selection of liquors, both traditional Croatian rakija and imported labels. No food is offered in the bar, except during some special events – and there are quite a lot of those, since the bar is in the centre of a small town and participates in most of the events in the community, and organizes many events on their own.
They have a lot of music nights, where they have the bands playing various types of music entertaining the customers, including the local favourite tamburica bands (local kind of folk music), rockabilly nights and DJs for the evening. They also participate in other events, such as the fashion show held right in front of the bar, or the afterparty held after the opening of the most renowned event in Vinkovci, Vinkovačke jeseni.
Coffee and Wine Bar Gymnasium
Kralja Zvonimira 1
32100 Vinkovci
Phone: 098 494 550
https://www.facebook.com/Coffee-wine-bar-Gymnasium-1443092795935559
