Drink And Eat Locally: Wine Garden Offers All The Local Wines In A Single Place

The opening of the Wine Garden that is a combination of a wine bar, wine shop with local delicacies and a snack bar have given the once traditional fish market a new and more serious meaning. At the same time, the Wine Garden is the only exhibition space in Zadar in which almost all winemakers of Zadar and its wider region are represented with one or more of their wine labels and liqueurs and brandies.

The concept of the first Wine Garden was created and set up by Ana Fiolić from Zadar. And not by chance. Ana and her husband Dario Fiolić have been part of the new wine scene for years. The Fiolić family has grown from a small garage and hobby winery with wines for their own needs into a boutique winery that produces premium wines that have found their place on the market.  The trump card is autochthonous Maraština, a type that the vintners from this region had completely (undeservedly) forgotten. 

Fiolić winery is only one of the 20 wineries of the Zadar region, Ravni Kotari and the island of Pag that were a real wine movement that has revitalized viticulture and winemaking in this part of Croatia over the last 25 years. New, young wine forces relied on the tradition of wine production, which almost died out in one period of the 20th century, but they were ready to correct the many mistakes that had once been made in the production of wine. They adopted new technologies and knowledge, listened attentively to oenologists’ instructions (and market demands), planted new vineyards with popular imported types, primarily French ones, but also devoted themselves to some forgotten autochthonous, local types.

And results started coming: the Zadar region wines began to be acknowledged at national and international wine competitions, they won their places on the market, in the hospitality offer, in shops and wine shops, and most of the winemakers have also arranged their own tasting rooms and wine shops where possible, in combination with local dishes and delicacies, to taste and buy their top local wines.

However, Zadar did not have one place where such wines could be tasted and bought so Ana Fiolić decided to fill that gap. She gathered all the vintners from the Zadar County region in the Wine Garden, and not even one of the offered products such as olive oil of delicatessen jam, prosciutto and cheese came from outside the county borders. 'Drink and eat local” is the main motto of the Wine Garden and the originator and leader adheres to this very strictly.

The Wine Garden is open from the end of spring until the first coming of autumn, the period when the largest number of tourists visits Zadar. Zadar guests are the most numerous visitors of the Garden for there is no better place for getting to know wines, delicacies and olive oil. 

Among the offered white wines, the most represented is the autochthonous Maraština, a delicate, refreshing wine that, besides Fiolić Winery, is also produced by several local wineries: Figurica, Buljat, Ker-Vin, Škaulj, Jokić, Degarra… Among the autochthonous types of wine,s several labels of Pošip are offered, which is a popular Dalmatian variety with pleasant fruity aromas, an ideal summer wine… The wines from the island of OPag are also offered in the Wine Garden as the real island type called Gegić, while several vintners produce more complex white wines aged in wooden barrels for two to more years, and they are also available in the Wine Garden as well as a palette of rosé into which production wineries such as Fiolić, Nimčević, Škaulj, Mas Vin, Degarra and Kraljevski vinogradi have bravely ventured. 

Sorts of Plavina, Babić, Crljenak, Svrdlovina and Plavac are the favorite local autochthonous varieties of red grapes nurtured by most vintners along with the imported French sorts as Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet and Grenache. The local winemakers use these varieties of grapes to produce varietal wines, but even more for premium coupages. Of course, all the red wines on offer are aged for four or more years.

Sparkling wine lovers will find rare types such as Scure Bora Winery from Pošip, Jokić’s Chance, brut from Maraština and others such as Muškat from Mas Vin Winery in Polača. That same winery also offers its yellow Muškat from year 2020 while the Zadar Degarra Winery offers its attractive dessert coupages of Merlot, Syrah and from marasca sour cherries  - Bomary. 

In the unique Zadar Wine Garden, it is also possible to find - beer. But the criterion of local Zadar prevails in the selection here as well, so three craft beers of small breweries are on offer: Brlog, Plavuša, Neposlušna and Špurija.

Wine Garden could not go wrong with liqueurs and brandies. Fiolić Winery produces only two of its own liqueurs, both premium – from sour cherry marasca and dry figs. The Fiolić family has been awarded with many acknowledgements at national and international competitions for these liqueurs. Besides these, premium liqueurs and brandies (grappa) can be found on the shelves of the Garden such as those from the well-known Mashtel distillery from the locality of Zaton next to Nina. Win Garden is also unique in its offer of cocktails: there is not a single well-known cocktail on offer, but all of them are designed only for this Garden, and all their ingredients are exclusively local. The Fiolić Spritz made of the Fiolić liqueur from marasca sour cherry, sparkling wine, lime and mint is to be singled out.

In the Wine Garden, you will be gladly offered a good bite of local food such as sheep cheese from the island of Pag and Dalmatian prosciutto, bacon and olives, anchovies, shrimp, mussels… Dalmatian and Sea bruschetta.

Friday evenings are specially entertaining in the Wine Garden: every summer Friday Ana Fiolić presents the entire offer of the two wines and Dalmatian acapella groups are in charge of the entertainment.