There are places where wine is produced. And there are places like Vrbnik, where wine is part of the identity, the landscape, the family, and everyday life.
In Vrbnik, Žlahtina is not just wine. Žlahtina is life.
That is why on August 21st and 22nd, the whole of Vrbnik will once again live wine. Jubilee 20th Vrbnik Wine Days 2026. bring two days of wine, gastronomy, meetings with winemakers, expert workshops, new technologies, music and eno-gastronomic experiences, and confirm the event's status as the central wine event of the island of Krk and the central event dedicated to Žlahtina in Kvarner.
The 20th edition is much more than an anniversary. It shows how Vrbnik has grown from a place with a long wine-growing and cooperative tradition into one of the most recognizable Croatian wine destinations – with modern family wineries, developed wine tourism, and wines that today win awards at relevant domestic and international competitions.
At the center of everything remains Vrbnik Žlahtina.
Fresh, Mediterranean and inextricably linked to the island of Krk, Žlahtina has grown from a local wine into one of the most recognizable Croatian autochthonous wine stories. Today, it is simultaneously a tradition, an economic product, a gastronomic symbol and one of the most important elements of the wine identity of Kvarner.
Wine Days are the place where this story is best understood – Where the Žlahtina grows, it is created and lives.
Before Vrbnik opens its cellars, squares and glasses to visitors, the Wine Days begin where every great wine is made – in the vineyard.
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of the Republic of Croatia – Directorate for Expert Support to Agricultural Development – organizes a workshop for winegrowers and vineyard owners dedicated to golden yellow grapevine, currently the most dangerous grapevine disease.
Winegrowers will have the opportunity to learn or repeat how to recognize the typical symptoms of golden yellows (FD), how to recognize and distinguish its vector – American cricket – and what obligations winegrowers and vine owners have related to this disease.
Information about pre-registration and registration of participants for the "Sustainable use of pesticides" education„, as well as news related to mandatory records.
The lecturers are Karmen Karlić and Dominik Gršković.
The workshop carries an important message of the entire event: The future of Žlahtina and Vrbnik winemaking begins with a healthy vineyard, and top quality wine begins with the knowledge, responsibility and continuous education of winegrowers.
As part of the same professional program, from 10:00 a.m. at the Vrbnik Tourist Information Center, will be held and presentation of the results of the project "Implementation of a system for the digitalization of wine production in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County"„.
The project will be presented ALTI AGRO doo., and was carried out in collaboration with members of the association Kvarner Wines, with financial support Primorje-Gorski Kotar County for the producers involved in the project.
In the vineyards, multispectral recordings and analyzes of vegetation indices, which gave producers a more detailed insight into the state of vegetation and the differences within individual vineyards. At the selected locations, i foliar feeding with an agricultural drone.
The project enabled producers to see concretely in their own vineyards how drones, digital data collection and analysis can be used in everyday vineyard production - from the collection and interpretation of data to the execution of specific agrotechnical interventions.
The presentation will present the results of analyses, field experiences and the possibilities of further application of this system in viticulture in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County.
Thus, the morning professional program of Wine Days connects two key issues of the future of viticulture in one place - vineyard protection and application of new technologies.
The afternoon is reserved for one of the professional highlights of the anniversary program – a wine workshop. „"Decanters from Kvarner - The Best of Kvarner Wines"“.
This is a kind of annual inventory of the quality of modern Kvarner winemaking and a unique opportunity to taste wines in one place that show how much this small and extremely specific Croatian wine region has progressed in terms of quality.
The workshop is led by Mate Negulic, vice-champion of Croatia in sommeliering 2025, and Josip Oriskovic, sommelier, educator and holder of the international ASI diploma.
It will even taste 14 selected wines:
These fourteen wines provide an interesting cross-section of the new wine Kvarner – from different interpretations of Žlahtina, through belica and sansigot to sparkling wines, aromatic wines and serious black labels.
Kvarner is a small wine region in terms of area, but it is precisely indigenous varieties, different terroirs of the islands and the coast, and continuous growth in quality its great market and tourist advantage.
A special place belongs to Žlahtina, a variety that is increasingly convincingly showing that it is not just a fresh summer wine, but a variety capable of different styles and serious wine interpretations.
The number of places is limited, and registration is required.
APPLICATIONS – DECANTERS FROM KVARNER / THE BEST OF KVARNER WINES:
https://forms.gle/m1d35fCpgBYnj61X9
Additional information: info@vrbnik.hr
Of 7 pm Vrbnik is changing its rhythm. Expert tastings are moving to the streets and squares, and the town is becoming a large open-air salon of wine, gastronomy and entertainment.
This year's fair is particularly interesting because, in addition to the strong lineup from Vrbnik and Kvarner, it also brings together guests from Slavonia, so two great Croatian wine and gastronomy stories will meet in Vrbnik - Mediterranean and Slavonia.
They are joined by guest winemakers:
The wine will be accompanied by a serious offer of local and Slavonian products, traditional specialties and dishes. The fair will feature Spud Food, the association "That's how it used to be", Mariolina, Tramontana Wood Craft, OPG Goran Jančo, OPG Dario Dješka, OPG Tak slatko and OPG Mendula.
Visitors come not only to taste a range of labels, but also to meet their producers, taste products from different Croatian gastronomic traditions and experience Vrbnik as a complete wine and gastronomic destination.
Of 19:00 to 20:30 A free carriage ride has also been organized, while the grand opening of the anniversary edition is scheduled for 9 p.m. at Škujica Square.
At the same time, the musical program begins: Klapa Kala on the Placa and Venus Group at Škujica Square, while in 11 pm takes the stage Alen Vitasovic.
The second day brings perhaps the best way to understand why Vrbnik is a special wine destination – Vrbnik Wine Walk.
Here you don't just visit the stands. You go directly to the winemakers, to their cellars, taverns and tasting rooms.
The day begins Slavonian breakfast at Škujica, followed by an almost all-day wine journey:
09:00 – 10:00 – gathering, collection of starter packages and Slavonian breakfast | Škujica
10:15 – 11:00 – PZ Vrbnik – presentation and wine tasting
11:15 – 12:15 – Ivan Katunar Wine House – guided tasting
12:30 – 13:30 – Katunar Estate Winery – presentation and tasting
13:45 – 15:30 – Gospoja Winery – wine and gastronomy program
16:00 – 17:00 – Nada Winery – program in the tavern
17:15 – 18:30 – Šipun Winery – tasting and presentation with buffet on the Placa
Six wine stations, six different stories and almost a whole day during which wine is introduced through people, cellars, gastronomy, landscape and the place where it was created.
This is precisely the meaning of modern wine tourism: to offer the guest not just a bottle of wine, but experience, emotion and reason for returning to the destination.
The number of participants is limited, and registration is mandatory.
REGISTRATION FOR VRBNIK WINE WALK:
https://forms.gle/Qsbvi8UQYGxQDRMb7
Saturday evening once again belongs to the fair and music. From 9 p.m. at the Plaza of Performances Trio Bajs, at Škujica Square Infinity Band, oh 11 pm Cocktails are closing the two-day Vrbnica wine festival.
Vrbnik has something that in modern tourism cannot be artificially produced or purchased with a marketing budget – authenticity.
It has vineyards and cellars, stone streets above the sea, local gastronomy, generations of winegrowers and winemakers, strong modern wineries and, above all, an indigenous variety that has become a symbol of the entire place.
Because 20. Vrbnik Wine Days are not just another summer festival.
They are a place where you can understand almost the entire life cycle of wine in just two days: from vineyard health, digitization and more precise production management, through expert tasting of the best wines in the region to meetings between winemakers, gastronomy and the public, and a tour of the cellars where the wine is made.
That is the central wine event of the island of Krk and the central annual place for the promotion of Žlahtina in Kvarner.
Because Žlahtina is not only produced in Vrbnik.
It is planted. It is cultivated. It is nurtured. It is talked about. It is eaten with. It is toasted with. It is passed down through generations and offered to the guest as part of the identity of the place.
