Zmajevac, set between Kneževi Vinogradi and Batina, was once the centre of winegrowing in eastern Croatia: in this small Baranja village more than two hundred families produced wine. It is here, in a region the ancient Romans called Mons Aureus two thousand years ago, meaning golden hill, that a winery bearing that name was born and very quickly became the most ambitious private wine address of Baranja.
Behind Zlatno Brdo stands Goran Matijević, an entrepreneur who officially launched the winery in Zmajevac in 2021. The vineyards stretch over 12 hectares of plantings around fifteen years old, partly leaning on Banovo brdo. The grapes are picked by hand and yields are strictly limited: no vine may carry more than a kilogram and a half of grapes. The wines age in a Zmajevac cellar built at the end of the 19th century, at a constant 14 degrees, and production is deliberately capped at 40 thousand litres a year, because the goal is quality, not quantity.
Decanter gold in the debut year
The house’s calling card is Gold Cuvée, an aromatic blend of Rhine Riesling, Chardonnay aged in Slavonian oak barrels and selected harvests of Pinot Gris and Traminac, which brought the winery a gold medal at the Decanter World Wine Awards in its very first year. Critics compared it to the legendary Venje by Enjingi, the first Croatian wine to win Decanter gold. Alongside it stand premium Graševinas, among them Panonika from selected bunches, while the red side is represented by Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, of which expert critics say they can stand shoulder to shoulder with the best wines of neighbouring Villany. For connoisseurs there are also rarities such as a predicate Cabernet Sauvignon from grapes left to freeze on the vine and a selected harvest Pinot Gris.
The winery does not stand still: in September 2025 it premiered five new labels, and expertly guided tastings are held in the cellar throughout the year, where guests, along with the wines, discover the story of Zmajevac, the Baranja gators and a region rightly called the mother of wine.
Website: www.zlatnobrdo.hr
