The wines of Vinarija Dingač

Vinarija Dingač is an old wine cooperative from Croatia, named after the famous Dingač vineyards on the Pelješac peninsula, just above Dubrovnik, on the Adriatic Sea. It makes red wines from the Plavac Mali grape and white wine from Pošip. The cooperative now has 330 small grape growers as members, spread across various islands and peninsulas in the region.

Dingač was founded in 1902 and has survived two world wars and the socialist era. Dingač is still going strong, partly thanks to the wine company Badel, which recently took it over - a move that has given export in particular a solid boost.

Today more than 330 affiliated grape growers manage nearly 300 hectares of vineyards, of which 43 hectares fall within the famous Dingač appellation and 29 hectares within the equally renowned Postup appellation in Croatia. In these famous vineyards, Plavac Mali is grown - the country's most important dark-skinned grape, which locals call the 'blood of Croatian soil'.

The vineyards lie on steep ground, right by the sea. They catch a great deal of sunshine, not only because of the steep slope, on which the grapes sit almost perpendicular to the sun, but also from the sun's reflection on the water.