Preparing for the holy wine celebration Martinje: Joint US and Croatia educational wine seminar held

Courtesy of Consulate of the Republic of Croatia and Croatian Premium Wine Imports, Inc. – Speakers at the Virtual Martinje 2021

Los Angeles, CA, Boston, Mass., and Makarska, Croatia — November 7, 2021 — The Consulate General of the Republic of Croatia and Croatian Premium Wine Imports, Inc., an online retailer of Croatian wines in the USA, hosted a virtual education and wine tasting to celebrate St. Martin Day, Martinje.  

Saint Martin is known as the protector of vineyards and winemakers, and Martinje marks the cheerful traditional folk custom of symbolically translating must into young wine (“baptism of wine”). In Croatia, celebrations welcome the new wine, and this was done virtually today by learning about and tasting wines from all regions of Croatia.

“There is an increased interest in boutique Croatian wines across the US, which is why we expanded our inventory to more than 80 wines that ship to most continental US States,” explained Mirena Bagur, co-founder of Croatian Premium Wine Imports, Inc, online retailer of Croatian wines in the US. “Martinje in the US traditionally marks the time for the pre-holiday marketing campaign, particularly as we now offer wine labels from all four Croatian wine regions.”

Picture-perfect Croatian Wine Regions: from Uplands and Slavonia, to Dalmatia and Istria

The Consul General of the Republic of Croatia, Ms. Renee Pea opened the celebration welcoming the speakers as well as guests, including the US Croatian diaspora who joined from across the country – from the West Coast, starting with California and Washington state, via Texas, to the East Coast.

Ms. Renee Pea, Consul General of the Republic of Croatia, Los Angeles

Consul Pea introduced the Croatian wine history dating back to 6^th Century BC on the islands, and the confidence she sees in the US market “as Americans are starting to get familiar with Croatian wine varieties, particularly after visiting Croatia.” 

Special Guest: Daniel Čečavac, dipWSET 
Daniel Čečavac, dipWSET, Weinakademiker

Daniel Čečavac, dipWSET, Weinakademiker

Daniel Čečavac, affectionally called Che, is a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology, Dubrovnik Campus, concentration on business/hospitality. He translated his passion about hospitality and the wines’ role in it to a hard-earned WSET Diploma at the Wein Akademie Institut, in Rust, near Vienna, Austria, where his theses highlighted Zinfandel.  In addition, understanding the distinct quality of Croatian wines as one of key offerings for luxury tourism, Daniel led wine festivals in Makarska and founded the Wine Club Croatia, an organization focused on wine tours and wine education.

Daniel led the Martinje tastings, which included sparkling wine from the Croatian Uplands, Graševina from Slavonia, Teran from Istria and Plavac Mali from Dalmatia. Participating in the conversation and representing wineries were:  Dominik Jagunić, Jagunic Winery, Jastrebarsko, Plešivica, Croatian Uplands; Marko Fakin, Fakin Winery, Motovun, Istria; and Vedrana Martinović-Trutina, Terra Madre, Komarna Appellation, Dalmatia.  

Wineries present at the talk: Jagunić, Terra Madre and Fakin.

Martinje Celebration Recording, and the Wine Selections for the Holidays

For people who could not join the virtual event, they can watch it HERE.