Zagreb Wine Gourmet Weekend is one of the wine festivals that anchors the Croatian Uplands calendar, drawing both local visitors and international wine travellers each year. It is held at Esplanade Hotel in Zagreb, in the heart of one of Croatia's most distinctive wine areas. It has been running since 2013, with a long unbroken local tradition behind it.
Zagreb Wine Gourmet Weekend is Croatia's flagship wine event for the trade and public, with 150+ Croatian and regional producers presenting at the historic Esplanade Hotel. The two-day programme combines tastings with masterclasses on Croatian appellations, sommelier sessions, the Vinart Grand Tasting (Croatia's premier annual wine review), and food-pairing dinners across Zagreb's restaurant scene. Wine trade fairs are the most efficient way to taste a broad cross-section of producers in a short time. Attendees can expect organised tasting halls grouped by appellation, masterclass programmes with guest speakers, sommelier-led sessions on individual grape varieties, and structured opportunities to meet producers. Most major events are reserved for trade visitors — buyers, importers, sommeliers, journalists, restaurateurs — but include public-facing days or evenings during the run of the event. The events have grown into key fixtures of the international wine industry calendar, with several drawing buyers from over 60 countries. The event is organised by Vinart, which sets the tone and direction of the programme each year.
The Croatian Uplands (Hrvatsko Zagorje and Plešivica) in northwestern Croatia near the Slovenian border is a small but increasingly recognised quality region. The cool continental climate suits crisp white wines from Graševina, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Chardonnay, the indigenous Škrlet (in Moslavina) and Pušipel/Furmint, alongside traditional-method sparkling wines that have developed a strong local reputation. The Plešivica zone has become a magnet for natural-wine enthusiasts, with producers like Tomac (founded 1804), Korak, Šember and Režek attracting international attention for their orange wines and traditional-method sparklers.
The 2026 edition is scheduled for February 2026. Festival access is ticketed: Day passes approx. €40-50. Full programme, ticketing and updated information are published on the official site at https://www.vinart.hr/. Visitors are advised to check directly with the organiser for the latest schedule, as festival programmes are sometimes updated close to the event date.
The Croatian Uplands sit just outside Zagreb, with Plešivica 45 minutes from the capital and Hrvatsko Zagorje 60 minutes north. Zagreb itself, with its strong restaurant scene, central European architecture and the Museum of Broken Relationships, is the natural base. The region pairs wine tourism with the spa towns of Krapinske Toplice and Tuheljske Toplice and the Trakošćan Castle. Cuisine pairs the wines with strudel (Croatia's strudel tradition runs from the Habsburg era), štrukli (the Zagorje cheese pastry), purica s mlincima (turkey with baked pasta), and the strong charcuterie traditions of the area.
