To promote its top-quality wines from Croatia, Croatia Amb. Damir KUSEN hosted a Croatia wine tasting event last week at a restaurant, located in Insadong Seoul.

Many wine lovers including Diplomatic Corps., assemblymen, and last but not least the press enjoyed sweet & rosy wines from Croatia, tasting various Croatian wines produced from its diverse regions.

About its wine culture, KUSEN introduced that wine is a popular drink in Croatia, and locals traditionally like to drink wine with their meals. Quite often, the wine is diluted with either still or sparkling water - producing a drink known as gemišt (a combination of white wine and carbonated water), and bevanda (a combination of red wine and still water).

As regarding Croatia's wine styles, there are two distinct wine-producing regions in Croatia. The continental region in the north-east of the country, produces rich fruity white wines, similar in style to the neighbouring areas of Slovenia, Austria and Hungary, according to the Embassy of Croatia.

On the north coast, Istrian wines are similar to those produced in neighbouring Italy, while further south production is more towards big Mediterranean-style reds. On the islands and the Dalmatian coast, local grape varieties, microclimates and the rather harsh nature of the vineyards leads to some highly individual wines, and some of Croatia's best known.

The Embassy said that Croatia has two main wine regions: Continental (Kontinentalna) and Coastal (Primorska), which includes the islands. Each of the main regions is divided into sub-regions, which are divided yet further into smaller vinogorje, (literally wine hills).[5]Altogether, there are more than 300 geographically-defined wine-producing areas in Croatia. More than half of the wine production is concentrated in three counties: Istria, Osijek-Baranja and Vukovar-Srijem County.[6]