Wine from Croatia’s First Underwater Winery an International Hit

Edivo’s unique Navis Mysterium wine a hit (Photo: Edivo)

Wine from Croatia’s first underwater winery is proving to be a hit around the world.

Edivo winery, which is located in Drače on the Pelješac peninsula in southern Dalmatia, made international news recently when it opened the first underwater winery in Croatia.

Since the news spread, demand for Edivo’s unique Navis Mysterium wine, which has been matured in amphorae at a depth of 20 metres underwater, has come in from all over the world, including interest from the world’s biggest wine traders.

“We have had inquiries from Australia, Russia, China, Canada, USA…our goal is to find and work with quality distributors, and judging by contacts, it seems we have succeeded,” Edivo co-owner Ivo Šegović explains to Globus.

Edivo is now exporting their mysterious sea wine to America and Hong Kong, and soon will be adding China to the list.

“We are getting calls from all corners of the world asking where can they buy our wine. Buyers of our wine are mostly foreigners, around 97%. Americans have shown the greatest interest,” Ivo adds.

The winery extends over 1000 m2 on land and under the sea and includes 14,000 plantations distributed on all sides of the Pelješac peninsula. Guests have the opportunity to join experienced divers and see firsthand the whole processes involved in creating the underwater amphora wine.

“In the last month, we have had a lot of calls from tourist agencies because their clients want to visit our winery or find our wine.”

Edivo uses a sunken boat as an underwater cellar and keeps the amphorae for 700 days at the ideal temperature of 15 to 17 degrees underwater at the bottom of the Mali Ston Bay.

The owners believe that the mysterious sea wine, which retails for around 300 euros and comes elegantly packed, is with Mali Ston oysters, famous cheeses of different flavors and pršut, a true gastro souvenir and will help add Croatia and Pelješac cement its place on the map of unavoidable gastronomic destinations.

“It’s completely a Croatian product. Amphora is made for us from an entrepreneur from Petrinja, glass is from Hum na Sutli, grapes are from Pelješac, the stand from Zabok, and the wooden box from Varaždin. The product is completely Croatian and is protected in all parts of the world,” Ivo concludes.

(Photos: Edivo Winery)