Pouring in: Vinistra Attracts Over 10,000 Wine Lovers

Interest in Istrian wines is growing year by year. Besides exceptional Malvasia and Teran wines, Istrians can boast excellent blends.

Poreč, May 7, 2023 – The 29th Vinistra, one of the wider region’s most attractive and famous wine exhibitions, has ended. More than 10,000 visitors passed through the Žatika hall in Poreč from Friday to Sunday, among them many foreign guests currently staying in sun-drenched Poreč and Istria.

The numbers confirm that the interest in Istrian wines is exceptionally high. Namely, due to preparations for the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, a wine judging event that next week will gather more than 350 judges from all over the world, the number of visitors is the same as last year, and the number of winemakers is the same, 80 of them exhibited in Poreč.

These two major wine events confirm the status of Istria as a beautiful and valued wine region, and Vinistra, today a highly professional association of winegrowers and winemakers of Istria, had the most outstanding merit in this.

Behind the Vinistra association of winegrowers and winemakers, there is a very intense period, as confirmed by its president Luka Rossi.

“In addition to two events from the new Vintage by Vinistra series, where we promoted aged Malvasias and Terranes in Zagreb, then the traditional En Primeur, Vinistra performed independently for the first time at Prowein, the world’s largest wine fair, and at Vinistra’s traditional judging of wines and spirits all the records for the fell, from the largest number of samples to the largest number of judges. The flagship of this intense period is the holding of the 29th Vinistra and already next week the holding of one of the world’s most important evaluations, the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles“, said Rossi and continued:

“The Istrian winemakers are extremely satisfied with the response, the visitors are more and more educated, regardless of whether they are local wine lovers or foreigners, they are well acquainted with the Istrian wine scene and come to Vinistra with a specific goal, they know what they want, they socialise with the winemakers and are interested in new trends. Therefore, I want to thank all visitors for coming. See you on the 30th of Vinistra”, says Luka Rossi, president of Vinistra.

He adds that wine events such as Vinistra and the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles have enormous value in branding Istria and Croatia as wine destinations and promoting Malvasia and Teran.

This year’s Vinistra also offered exciting workshops such as “Decanter from Kvarner” and those on the increasingly popular Istrian blends. Young sommeliers Tomislav Mikinac, Ivan Grgić and Dejan Dević spoke about a wide range of wine blends, from exceptional sparkling wines and excellent young wines, but also aged white wines to powerful red and sweet wines. 

The professional program ended with the traditional presentation of the winemaking studies of the Polytechnic in Rijeka through five award-winning alumni students, better known as “5 for 5 study of winemaking”.