Croatian Wine - History

History

Like the rest of Central Europe and South-Eastern Europe, viticulture in the present-day Croatia existed hundreds of years before the rise of the Roman Empire. Recent research has shown that the Illyrians living in Dalmatia during the Bronze Age and Iron Age may already have grown grapevines. However, the true beginning of grape cultivation and wine production in Croatia is related to the Ancient Greeks settlers, who arrived on the Croatian coast in the 5th century BC. The Greek writer Athenaeus wrote 22 centuries ago about the high quality wine produced on the Dalmatian islands of Vis, Hvar and Korčula. Coins from the period have motifs related to grape cultivation and wine, demonstrating the importance of wine in the economics of the ancient Greek colonies.

Under the Roman Empire, the production of wine grew, becoming more organized. Wine was exported to other parts of the empire. Artifacts from this time include stone presses from which wine was squeezed, amphoras from sunken Roman galleys, and decorations on numerous religious and household items bear witness to the wine-making culture.

As the Croatians arrived and settled the area, they learned from their predecessors, and wine production continued to expand. During the Middle Ages, there was a royal court official called the "royal wine procurer", whose responsibilities included the production and procurement of wine. Free towns adopted legal standards on winegrowing and protected it accordingly. For example, a statute of the town and island of Korčula in 1214 contains strict rules protecting the vineyards.

In the 15th century, the Ottoman Turks arrived in South Eastern Europe, and imposed strict anti-alcohol laws as part of the new Islamic law. Fortunately, the Ottoman Empire was tolerant of Christianity, and Catholic church traditions involving wine are thought to have “saved” European wine production from complete extinction. Priests and monks were permitted to continue producing wine in order to provide for Church services.

In the 18th century, much of present-day Croatia came under control of the Habsburg Empire, where wine production flourished through the 19th and 20th centuries. But the history of wine was to change dramatically in 1874, when phylloxera, a hazardous grapevine pest, started to appear in Europe. Wine production dropped, first in France and Germany, as the growers struggled to combat the blight. For a time, Croatian vineyards remained unaffected, and wine exports greatly increased to fill the extra demand. Some French companies even planted vines in Croatia with a view to expanding operations in the safe area. However, by the turn of the 20th century, Croatian vines had also succumbed to phylloxera, leading to the destruction of the vineyards and the collapse of the local economy in many areas. Large numbers of wine growing families moved to the new world, contributing to the growth of wine production there.

Under the communist system of Yugoslavia, wine production was centered in large cooperatives, and private ownership of vineyards was discouraged. Quantity rather than quality became the main focus. The Croatian War of Independence in the early 1990s saw many vineyards and wineries once again destroyed. However, with the move back to small, independent producers, Croatian wines are once again competing with the best in the world wine market.