A month of wine hedonism on Croatia’s Pelješac peninsular

by croatiaweek
May 14, 2021
in News

(Photo: TZ Ston)

Everything is ready for the first Pelješac Cellars Festival. From Saturday, for a month you can enjoy your favourite plavac and delicious local dishes at special prices

OREBIĆ, 14 May 2021 – Pelješac is inviting you to the largest event held on Croatia’s famous wine peninsular which gets underway on Saturday.

The Pelješac Cellars Festival, which runs from Saturday, May 15, until June 15, will see 53 winemakers, restaurants, taverns, shellfish farms, and family farms open their doors.

During the festival, wineries participating will offer their visitors discounts on wine — 20% on certain wine lables, and restaurants and taverns will have menus with traditional Pelješac specialties with a glass of local wine designed specifically for the festival — there will be two menus, one for 120 kuna and one for 180 kuna.

Pelješac vineyards

(Photo: Andrea Sain/TZ Orebić)

“We are glad that a large number of winemakers have joined the Festival, which focuses on Plavac mali, a trademark of our peninsula and one of the largest wine brands in Croatia. All research confirms that the eno-gastronomic offer is among the first three motives for tourists to come to our country, and our wine empire with famous vineyards such as Ponikava, Dingač and Postup, has become a real tourist attraction and not only for wine lovers. As part of the Festival on June 4th and 5th, we are organising the traditional Pelješac Cellars Open Days, an event that usually takes place in December. We hope that this June version will become another traditional wine festival,” said Slobodan Rosić, secretary of the associations Pelješac Wine Routes and Plavac mali Pelješac.

(Photo: PZ Putnikovic)

(Photo: Ivo Biocina/TZ Orebic)

The director of the Ston Tourist Board, Fani Slade, pointed out that all four tourist boards from Pelješac are participating in this project – along with Ston, the Tourist Boards of Janjina, Orebić and Trpanj, and the idea was realised in cooperation with Feel IQM. She says that the Festival would not have been possible without the support of the associations Ston’s Shellfish, Pelješac Wine Routes and Plavac mali Pelješac, as well as Ston’s Walls, Solana Ston and the Maritime Museum in Orebić.

(Photo: TZ Ston)

“We have taken care of epidemiological measures, so there is no mass gathering during the event, and we plan to hold an accompanying programme such as wine workshops and conferences online. We also recommend all visitors to announce their arrival at the winery, family farm, restaurant or tavern in advance. We believe that next year the pandemic will be behind us, so the second edition of the Pelješac Cellars Festival will offer a rich entertainment and educational programme,” says Slade.

(Photo: TZ Ston)

(Photo: Baldo Mirković/TZ Trpanj)

Now is the right opportunity to head south and discover Peljesac’s untouched nature, its beautiful beaches and promenades, endless vineyards that descend steeply to the crystal blue sea, rich heritage, picturesque places and enjoy the widely known oysters, great Mediterranean cuisine and powerful plavac, which the wine world talks about.