With a serene 1,104-mile-long Adriatic coast home to more than 1,000 islands, Croatia is a country that loves the sea. But there’s something it loves more, wine! This tiny country is, in fact, among the world’s top 5 wine consuming countries. And now Croatia is primed boost its wine tourism with its new one of a kind underwater winery.
© Edivo Vina
Owned by Ivo and Anto Šegovi and Edi Bajurin, Edivo Vina is located in Drae on the Pelješac Peninsula, about an hour from the capital, Dubrovnik. The owners have been working on this quirky project for years.
© Edivo Vina
Grapes harvested from vineyards around Drae are aged for 3 months on land. Then they are transferred to specially made amphorae or clay jugs, based on the ones used in ancient Greece. The wine is tightly sealed inside the amphorae, that are then placed inside padlocked cages and lowered into the sea where it is stored for one to two years. Their first amphorae went underwater in 2013.
© Edivo Vina
The owners believe this offbeat storage provides the perfect environment and temperature for wine lending it a distinct ‘pinewood aroma’. As the Edivo Vina website claims, “The sea provides natural cooling in ideal conditions and the perfect silence underwater improves the quality of wine”.
© Edivo Vina
Adventurous wine lovers are in for a treat. You can dive to the underwater cellar (guided by trained divers) to pick their wine. On the way to the cellar, you’ll pass by an old sunken boat at the bottom of the Mali Ston Bay and meet colorful sea life.
Wine lovers, Croatia awaits you. Dive in!
Book flights to Dubrovnik, Croatia on EMI with Mihuru Splitfare and explore one of the most wine consuming countries in the world.
