In the famous Croatian tourist town of Opatija, the unique event “Wine and Vruja” has been held on the first weekend in August for ten years.
The organizers, an association of wine enthusiasts, sink iron cages with wine bottles into the sea, take out the bottles that have been maturing for a year and hold a public wine tasting.
Vruja are underground caves and a geological phenomenon, representing the sources of distant sinkholes from the depths of the karst area.
The Opatija Vruja, which is about 20 meters in size, is an ideal natural “cellar” for the maturation of wine, as it has fresh water and low temperatures and, according to experts, represents a unique microenvironment that influences the wine.
With the help of a crane, divers and air bags, cages containing around 5,000 bottles of wine are brought to a depth of 20 meters, where they mature for a year in complete silence and darkness. The bottles must be coated with wax to prevent seawater from entering, they are labelled and each bottle is stored separately in a cage. Over the course of the year, marine flora accumulates on the bottles, giving each bottle a special decoration and a special tasting experience.
When the cage is removed from the sea, winemakers, oenologists, wine lovers and tourists gather to taste the aged wine on the spot and share in the positive atmosphere of another “successful harvest” from the sea.
In the evening, a festival is held in the town square with wine tastings by well-known Croatian winemakers, a gastronomic offer of seafood, music and dancing.
The members of the Brotherhood of Croatian Wine Knights have been participating in this event for years by placing various autochthonous wine varieties into the sea in their iron “knight’s cage” and sharing the joy of successful maturation, expert tasting and promotion of wine culture with all guests and wine lovers.
