Croatian prison’s wines and honey win international recognition

Lepoglava Prison (Photo credit: Rosier-HR/CC BY-SA 3.0)

ZAGREB, 16 July 2025 (Hina) – Lepoglava Prison continues to gain acclaim at both domestic and international competitions for its wines and honey, the Ministry of Justice announced on Tuesday.

These achievements further highlight the success of rehabilitation programmes within Croatia’s prison system.

At this year’s Kvarner Wine Trophy 2025, Lepoglava Prison was awarded three silver medals for its yellow muscat, Rhine riesling and sauvignon, along with a bronze for its graševina.

The prison’s wines also impressed at the prestigious Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA), where bronze medals were awarded for Rhine riesling, graševina and yellow muscat.

(Photo: Ministry of Justice)

In addition, their sauvignon earned a gold medal at the Franjo Lebar wine evaluation in Štrigova – a repeat of last year’s success.

In the beekeeping segment, Lepoglava’s acacia honey won a gold diploma at the international honey competition in Vukovar in 2024, and a silver diploma in Zagreb. The chestnut honey received silver diplomas at both events.

(Photo: Ministry of Justice)

Lepoglava Prison manages five hectares of vineyards with more than 24,000 vines across various grape varieties, including graševina, Rhine riesling, sauvignon, yellow muscat, white, grey and black pinot, traminer, sylvaner and moslavac.

On average, 15 inmates participate year-round in all stages of viticulture and wine production – from pruning and tending to the vines, through harvest, to the processing of grapes in the wine cellar. The 2024 harvest yielded 24,000 litres of wine.

(Photo: Ministry of Justice)

In addition to winemaking and beekeeping, the prison places a strong focus on education. In partnership with external training institutions, inmates are trained in professions such as fruit growing and beekeeping.

Over the past few years, 31 inmates have completed vocational training – 21 as fruit growers and 10 as beekeepers.

These qualifications aim to ease the transition into the workforce upon release, the Ministry of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation stated.