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 Conseil des Echansons de France is a wine-brotherhood dedicated to promoting and defending French wines, as well as the traditions associated with the arts of the table. Founded in 1954, the Conseil des Echansons de France is heir to the traditions of the winegrowers’ brotherhoods of the Middle Ages, and those of the wine-lovers’ brotherhoods of later times. Around the world, it counts several hundred members, both wine professionals and amateur tasters. It has permanent representations in France and