Winery Visits – An Unforgettable Experience
For any wine-lover a visit to a winery to discover the wine-maker’s production secrets is unforgettably enjoyable. Hvar Island has a large number of high-quality wineries offering a range of wines specific to the island. 95% of the wineries are family-owned, which gives the experience of tasting wines on their premises a cosy, welcoming atmosphere.
Advice when visiting wineries
It is always advisable to book your time for visiting in advance. Wine producers are always busy! Also, wine tasting is an organised experience, so people cannot just turn up and just join in a tasting session.
You can organise your own tasting session(s) by consulting our listing of wineries and contacting the owners yourself, or you can make arrangements with a local agency offering wine tours.
If you intend to visit more than one winery within a day, the advantage of using an agency is that they will organise travel between the locations. Although when tasting wine you do not drink much (or indeed any) at professional levels, in practice for most people wine-tasting involves imbibing a certain amount, so driving any vehicle afterwards is not recommended.
What does a wine-tasting session consist of?
When you book your session, you will probably need to choose between the options on offer. The selection will be based on the number and types of wines produced, the grape varieties and the vintages. How many wines do you want to try? Just a few of the winery’s cheaper wines, its finest wines, a selection of whites or reds? The options and pricing of the different tasting levels on offer will be explained. Most wineries offer some small snacks matched to their wines, and there may be a choice of these according to your tastes.
The wine producers usually start the tasting session by explaining the details of their terroir, the soil, position and climatic conditions where their grapes are grown. There is a surprising amount of variety in all these factors on the island, affecting the grapes differently even in geographic locations which are quite close together.
Tips for efficient, enjoyable tasting:
- Hold the glass correctly – the wine-maker will show you how if you don’t know;
- Observe the wine’s colour and clarity;
- Whirl the glass gently to release the wine’s aromas;
- Smell the wine to prepare your palate;
- Then swallow a small amount and enjoy the complexity of the taste.
Buying Hvar wines
Of course, when you visit a winery you can buy any wines you have enjoyed at the tasting on site. Local wines are also available for sale in the wine bars which some wine-producers run separately from their wineries. There are also specialized online companies selling Hvar wines, who may even deliver abroad, subject to the export rules applied in specific countries, especially outside the European Union.
