The wines of Dalmatia: a traveller's guide

Dalmatia has been making wine for well over two thousand years, and its best bottles are made from grapes you won't find anywhere else. Forget international varieties — the pleasure here is in the local names: Plavac Mali, Pošip, Grk, Babić. This is a short traveller's guide to what to drink and where to taste it along the coast and islands.

Plavac Mali — the great red

Dalmatia's signature red is Plavac Mali, a descendant of the grape now known elsewhere as Zinfandel. The most famous come from the steep, sun-baked slopes of the Pelješac peninsula — the Dingač and Postup sites — and from the south side of Hvar, around Sveta Nedjelja. Powerful, dark and built for the local lamb and pršut.

The island whites: Pošip and Grk

The island of Korčula is white-wine country. Pošip, grown best around Čara and Smokvica, is fresh and aromatic and now planted across Dalmatia; Grk, from the sandy vineyards of Lumbarda, is rarer and worth seeking out. Both pair beautifully with the island's seafood.

Babić and the stone vineyards

Around Primošten, the red Babić grows in a maze of dry-stone walls so striking that a photo of the vineyards reportedly hangs at the United Nations. Inland, the Zadar hinterland and the Benkovac plateau are reviving old varieties too.

How to taste it

The easiest way is a guided wine tour — a local driver who knows the small family wineries, so you can taste freely without worrying about the road. Tours run from Split, Hvar, Korčula, Dubrovnik (for Pelješac) and the Primošten and Zadar wine roads.

Make a trip of it: pair the islands with our island hopping from Split guide, or read Korčula from Split for the Pošip country itself.