Iločki Podrumi: A Winery That Rose Like A Phoenix

A winery, with a lengthy history, faced near destruction during a war and enemy occupation. However, it found s way to rise from the ashes, becoming the most awarded winery in Croatia. Quite a tale of passion and dedication, of perseverance and ingenuity. 

Continuing our exploration of the Slavonian region, while touring Croatia, we traveled to Ilok, the easternmost town in Croatia. Ilok is located on a hill, which borders the Danube River, and is surrounded on a few sides by Serbia. Ilok may be a small town, but it's big in history and culture. Within Ilok, we visited Iločki Podrumi (Ilok Wine Cellars), including staying overnight in their guest rooms. 

Wine production in this area extends back over 2000 years, to at least the ancient Illyrians, and continued by the ancient Romans. In the 15th century, around 1450, Nikola Iločki, a wealthy landowner and military hero, as well as the Ban of Croatia, constructed a castle in Ilok, including a wine cellar (which still exists to this day). Near the end of the 17th century, the Italian family Odescalchi was awarded the castle and property of Ilok, and they became passionate about wine production. They built another wine cellar as well as planting new vineyards, including introducing Gewürztraminer to the area for the first time. In 1864, the family built the Principovac Castle as a summer residence. Today, Iločki Podrumi is a joint-stock company, and the major stakeholder is Juraj Mihaljević. 

An important element to understanding Slavonia, Ilok, and Iločki Podrumi is the terrible impact of the Homeland War, also known as the Croatian War of Independence. During the war, which took place from 1991-1995, Ilok became a fierce battleground which was occupied by Serbians who would imprison numerous Croatians. Too many Croatians died during this war, and the effects continue to reverberate to the current day. During this occupation, there was little wine production, although Serbians used some wine to make rakija. 

Once the war ended, and Serbians were ousted from Ilok, the wine industry was in a terrible condition. About 70% of the vineyards had to be replanted, and much wine making equipment had either been stolen or seriously damaged. Could Iločki Podrumi recover from this devastation? It would take time for the Ilok wine industry to regroup and resume normal production. However, within about 25 years, the wine industry in Ilok has made incredible strides forward. It's even said that Iločki Podrum is the most awarded winery in Croatia, which is even more impressive considering how they have come back from the Homeland War, rising like a phoenix from the ashes. 

Prior to our tour and tasting, we enjoyed lunch, which included four different salads, made from fresh produce, including: Lettuce, Tomato, Winegrower's, and Cabbage.

There was also a bowl of Beef Soup, with homemade noodles, and it was tasty, with a flavorful broth. This is a simple dish, but I enjoyed it and would like to make it at home. 

For my main dish, I opted for the Bečki Odrezak (Pork Wiener Schnitzel) with French fries and tartar sauce. There were three large pieces of Wiener Schnitzel, with an excellent crispy coating and tender pork, and I was sure to finish all three pieces. 

Iločki Podrumi owns about 990 hectares of vineyards, producing about 4 to 5 million liters of wine annually (roughly 500,000 cases). So, it's a large winery but still much smaller than a number of the large California wineries. Approximately 80% of their production is white wine, and they primarily use Slavonian oak for their barrels. Most of their tourists are Croatians, although they receive numerous tourists, including Americans, from cruise ships that travel down the Danube River. 

One of their claims to fame is that they supplied wine for the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953. A royal delegation had come to the region, seeking wines for the major event, and they decided on the 1947 Traminer (which was also the year when Elizabeth and Philipe wed). The Iločki winery supplied them 17,000 bottles, and since then, they have supplied more of the 1947 Traminer to British royalty, including most recently, in 2016, to Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwell Camille. 

We spent a little time visiting the old wine cellars, which are still in use.

This is the oldest section of the wine cellars, where many of their oldest wines are kept. During the Homeland War, one of the cellar employees, Franjo Volf, constructed a wall that blocked off this section of the cellar, hiding about 8,000 bottles of their older wines. This ruse was successful and the Serbians never found the concealed cache. This is similar to what some French wineries did during World War II, concealing some of their wines from the Nazis. 

The oldest wine in their cellar is the 1947 Traminer, and they only have about 89 bottles remaining.  

1983 Graševina.

1983 Rhine Riesling.

We then proceeded to a wine tasting, to sample a small number of the wines produced by Iločki.

The 2020 Iločki Podrumi Chardonnay, made from 100% Chardonnay, is a premium wine, which sees only stainless steel and has a 13% ABV. It was crisp, dry, and pleasant, with green apple and citrus flavors.

The winery makes 8 different expressions of Traminer. The 2021 Iločki Podrumi Traminac, with a 13% ABV, is a quality wine with bright flavors of grapefruit, lemon, and citrus with some spice notes. It's an easy drinking wine, fine on its own although it will pair well with a variety of foods too. The 2020 Iločki Podrumi Traminac, with a 14% ABV, is a premium wine, with the typical aromatics of Gewürztraminer. On the palate, it presents with a complex melange of tastes of tropical fruit and spice. Very pleasant wine. 

The 2019 Iločki Podrumi Frankovka, with a 13% ABV, is also a premium wine, and which has seen three years in oak. With an alluring aroma of red and black fruits and a touch of spice, the palate presents black cherry and plum notes, with a spicy edge, good acidity, and a lengthy finish. Delicious and maybe my favorite wine of the tasting.

We ended with the 2017 Iločki Podrumi Selected Berry Harvest Traminac, a late harvest wine. It was hedonistic and compelling, a complex melange of honey, apricot, and Gewürztraminer. With good acidity, the sweetness was well balanced, and the finish lingered and lingered in your mouth. This would be an excellent wine for the holidays, to be presented with desserts.   

We enjoyed a few snacks with our tasting, including Poderane Gaće, which I mentioned before roughly translates as "torn underpants." These were a bit denser than the ones we enjoyed before, but were also topped by some salt, which enhanced the taste of these fried dough delights. 

A cute winery cat wandering free on the grounds of the winery.

Iločki Podrumi has a powerful story, and its future continues to look bright. If you travel to Slavonia, Ilok should definitely be one of your stops, to revel in its history, culture and wines (from Frankovka to Traminer).