Croatia: Best Wine Tour in the Istrian Peninsula

Rovinj by night

Croatia as a destination has been a popular one of late for many visitors. Most tend towards the Dalmatian Coast/Dubrovnik area -- and I can't blame them. From what I have seen, it is beautiful, and likely pretty cost-efficient. 

We instead decided to go to Istria, a place I had never heard of until J started his research. He found this to be the center of wine and food in Croatia...the fact that it is a bit off the beaten path helped, too.

Istria has a rich history -- it has changed hands between Italy, Slovenia, & Croatia several times. The Italian influence is very apparent here.  We stayed in Rovinj,  a gorgeous city on the coast (if you squint, you can see Italy). Rovinj's historical center is car-free -- and hilly -- and full of nooks and crannies and many feral tuxedo cats. 

With Rovinj as our base, we took a few day trips, one of which was one of the most fun wine tours I'd been on.  Eat Istria offers several types of wine tours all hosted by Goran, the owner and tour guide. We opted for the Central Istrian Tour, which took us a few hours away from Rovinj to the beautiful Croatian wine country. 

Old Wine Press

The wine in Croatia is quite unique -- the soil is very iron rich, which in transfers to the grapes in the form of a heavy mineral taste. The main white wine is a Malvazija -- which is rather crisp and mineral-forward. Each of the wineries we visited had several of these to taste, each was a little different. 

The main red in Croatia is Teran. To me, the iron is so rich it almost tastes like blood. (it was interesting to later contrast the Slovenian Teran...same grapes, totally different taste) 

Why Goran's Eat Istria Tour?

Taking a tour with Goran is like taking a tour with a member of one of the winemaker's families -- he is incredibly knowledgeable about wine, the area, and each of the wineries. The group was small -- a few women from Queens, a couple from England, and us -- which made for a very intimate tour.  Lunch was one of the best meals I had while in Croatia -- homemade fuži pasta in a very casual environment. We ended the tour with a deeper knowledge of Croatian wine, and a case or so of the good stuff!

Sicily: Wine Sippin' Around Etna

One of the main purposes of our trip was to discover the world of Sicilian wine -- specifically around the Etna area. The morning after we arrived, we were excited to get going on our adventures...but Mother Nature had other plans.


The rain we had encountered upon our arrival had not left us yet -- we had a slight reprieve on our first evening, but it came back with a roar our first morning. Luckily the scenery was worth staring at for a while.

After the torrential downpour in Taormina that confined us to our hotel, it was time to head out to the Sicilian countryside to sip some vino and watch the volcano. After a harrowing journey back down Taormina's windy roads, we were soon en route!

Unlike most places in the wine country here in northern California, most of the wineries in Sicily require reservations. Unfortunately, thanks to the storms, we were running terribly behind. We decided to swing by one place, any way, in hopes that they still might entertain our visit.

Outside of our room -- vines creeping over the wall

Tenuta delle Terre Nere produces one of the wines J really likes, and just happened to be pretty much across the street from our agriturismo (which actually sat amidst their vineyards, which was gorgeous!). We hunted around the grounds a bit, then finally a very surprised winemaker popped out -- he wasn't still expecting us. But, we got lucky, and had one of the best wine tours we could imagine. He gave us a tour of their vineyards, which included going off roading into the hills to see some of the unique, volcano-side terrain. Once we got back, we got to taste their wines, and walked off with several bottles as well as some olive oil.

On our second day, we awoke with a mission...get to Mount Etna, and drink more wine! While it was a beautiful day at the base of the mountain, as we got higher up, it got decidedly chillier. We climbed up as far as we could by car, to an area that in the winter serves as a ski resort. That particular day it was too foggy to go any further, so we climbed around a bit on the volcanic rock, then figured we'd had enough of that type of nature.

Food and wine pairing -- YUM!

Soon enough we were experiencing another type of nature, the red, white, and juicy kind. We arrived Gambino Winery, where we'd had reservations the day before but had missed due to the rain. They were pretty forgiving about it -- they told us that there had been flooding in the area and they couldn't blame us for not wanting to drive up there.

This was quite a different experience than the day before -- this tasting room is much more of a destination and polished. The view was amazing -- Gambino is set on the side of the hill, so you can gaze at the valley below while sipping on their wines. It had a good deal of charm, largely thanks to everyone who worked there. We did the food and wine pairing, thankfully because we were pretty hungry! This is a big place, and we were invited to take a tour of their grounds and production facility. The winery was rather crowded, as was the tour; people from all over the world, it seemed!

Mountain View from Patria

Once we were done there, we were left with the tough decision of where to go next?! With no reservations anywhere, we decided to take our chances and stop by places that we might encounter on our way back to the agriturismo. We soon found ourselves at Patria, where they were surprised when we knocked on the door of the office and asked if we could taste. They were very accommodating, even though they weren't expecting us. As we wandered over to the tasting room, we were greeted by the winery dog, an older lady who made sure to guard the door as we drank. At Patria they had bubbles, which of course I loved! They offered us probably six more varieties, as our pourer talked about her love of California. We were lucky to be the only ones there tasting; we got lots of personal attention and learned quite a bit about their wines.

Sandro & J

We weren't quite ready to head back to our agriturismo, but we were ready to eat something. As we Cave Ox, which would end up being one of my favorite experiences! The kitchen sadly wasn't open yet, but our new friend Sandro kept us plied with wine as we waited. He brought J into the wine cave, and talked us through his inventory. We got to taste more local wine, and we sat there for a few hours enjoying the company, and eventually the pizza. As we carefully made our way back to our place, we were grateful that Cave Ox was just two turns down the road.
were driving back, we arrived to

Our trunk was full of a few newly-acquired bottles -- I'd say it was a very successful day!


Tenuta delle Terre Nere
Contrada Calderara
95036 Randazzo CT

Gambino Winery
Contrada Petto Dragone
95015 Linguaglossa CT

Patria
s.s.120, Km 194.500 |Solicchiata
95012 -Castiglione di Sicilia (CT)

Cave Ox
Via Nazionale Solicchiata, 159
95012 Solicchiata (CT)

Sicily: Taormina Vistas

To say J & I are ambitious travelers is an understatement. Our time off together is precious and we like to fit as much in as possible (and yes, we do relax, too...kind of!). Our honeymoon was no exception. Over the span of three weeks -- a work trip was tacked on at the very end -- we hit twelve airports.

Enjoying Maine!

We started on a Thursday, heading down to Los Angeles to attend the wedding of our friends. We left
that wedding, and LA, on Friday evening to head to Maine (via Boston) to attend the wedding of another of our friends on a small island off the coast. Two days later, it was time to head and start our time overseas.

Getting there was not without incident. The day we were set to leave was the day the Lufthansa pilots went on strike. What airline were we on? Lufthansa! It was a very trying several hours -- but with the help of an awesome United rep in Boston Logan, Aaron, our adventures were only delayed by a few hours.

• Protip #1: When you book on a codeshare flight, call your originating carrier. Their lines are going to be much shorter and they'll have more time to dedicate to you. (We eventually walked over to United's customer service)
• Protip #2: If there are two of you, split the efforts...get in line, make calls, tweet. We did this until we got an answer. 
• Protip #3: Try not to get stuck in Boston Logan. It has a terrible international terminal.

But soon enough, we did arrive. We had chosen to fly into Catania, the airport on the eastern coast, and spend the evening in Taormina, a beautiful hill town that overlooks the coast as well as Mt. Etna, even booking an awesome hotel. Our delay meant that we didn't get to spend much time enjoying the amenities of the hotel, and also meant that we arrived in the middle of some torrential rains!

Getting to Taormina is not for the feint of heart, even when the weather is dry. It requires a slow trek up a very steep mountainside road. With the rain, there were a few washouts, so the going was even slower. I had a data plan on my phone (this has become a must -- one of us gets the data plan, usually me since I'm the navigator, and we turn it on in moments like these when we aren't 100% sure where we are going). 

If you find yourself staying at the Hotel Monte Tauro, be prepared to wind around this little town, then, when you think you can go no more, look to your right. You'll see a sign and a very steep driveway. This is your spot. Be careful! We had a wonderful room at this wonderful hotel, overlooking the pool. It was closed due to the storm, but it offered a view of the ocean and lower-lying towns.

View from our room

Taormina captures the romantic idealism of Italy. As you walk around the small town, you will not find many cars, allowing you to move freely to the shops, caffes, and restaurants. Wander around and you will find all sorts of restaurants, places to stop for a espresso or Etna Rosso, and plenty of gelato!

Though we were tired, we stopped for dinner -- sharing a bottle of local wine and indulging on panelle (Sicilian fried chickpeas). The restauranteur had a love for California, so we talked for him with quite some time about that! We then meandered through town, which was simply magical in the post-rain evening. Not ready to go home yet, we stopped at the Caffe Wunderbar to sit and enjoy the music and people watching. 

It was in Taormina where we noticed all the pine cones -- La Pigna. These ceramics come in all sorts of sizes and colors, and we saw them everywhere we went in Sicily! 

The other image you will not escape in Sicily is that of "The Godfather." I had heard most Sicilians try to distance themselves, you will see Godfather paraphernalia everywhere you go. There is always a t-shirt snuck in there, or a small wallet, or something. This has some significance -- many of the "Corleone" scenes were shot in/around Taormina.  

I wish I had one full day to enjoy Taormina -- if you find yourself there, it is small enough to see a lot in that amount of time. If you have time to enjoy a second day, you will truly enjoy la dolce vita!