Were the names, terms and abbreviations Bubrig, Galjin dvor, K55, Brid, Galica and Terra Spino part of a word-association game, few would guess they belong to Decanter medal winners. Yet they do. These are Croatian wineries, unfamiliar to many, that took silver and bronze at this year’s 22nd edition of the world’s largest wine competition. 
Bubrig is a winery and olive mill from Zakotorac, a village near Trpanj on the Peljesac peninsula in Dalmatia, producing the celebrated reds Dingac and Postup (both prized single-vineyard expressions of Plavac Mali); its Postup 2020 earned a silver medal. Galjin dvor hails from Krusevo, in the hinterland of Primosten, where journalist Radoslav turned vintner on an estate named after the old family nickname Galjini. His Babic 2021 scored 94 points, one shy of gold, while the Babic 2022 also took silver with 91 points. 
K55 was known as the Janecic winery until 2023, when the new owners, the Dugalic family, renamed it after the estate’s house number. Their Antique Grasevina 2023, from vines more than a century old, was awarded silver by the Decanter judges. This year it also took gold at the prestigious Mundus Vini competition in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, Germany. The bronze went to the K55 Trofetta Cuvee Blanc, an off-dry blend drawn from four harvests: regular and late-harvest Grasevina plus Chardonnay. 
The Brid winery is from Omis, with vineyards around Vrgorac and a portion of grapes bought from contract growers. Its Sauvignon Blanc 2024 took bronze. Terra Spino is a Plavac Mali made from organically grown grapes on a site near Bol on the island of Brac; the 2021 and 2017 vintages both won bronze this year, while the 2019 earned silver at the 2022 Decanter judging. Worth a mention too is the bronze-winning Plesivica Chardonnay, Galica My Blond 2022. 
Galica is the wine brand of Domagoj Ivancic, owner of an excellent family restaurant in the village of Plesivica, under which he also bottles the Domi Extra Brut sparkling, the Mama Pinot Noir and the Tata Riesling. It is worth recalling, too, that the inmates of Lepoglava Prison make wine: at this year’s Decanter judging their Muskat Zuti 2024, Grasevina 2024 and Rajnski Rizling (Riesling) 2024 each took bronze. Here are the rest of this year’s awarded wines from ten wineries unknown to many, arranged by location from the Danube to Korcula:
Ilok
Vinarija Loncar
Izborna Berba Bobica Grasevina 2022 – silver
Frankovka 2022 – bronze
Strigova
Stanko Kovac
Pusipel Classic 2024 – bronze
Sauvignon 2024 – bronze
Vinogradi Ludbreski
Vinska kuca Kiric
Postenjak 2024 (Grasevina, Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc) – bronze
Chardonnay 2024 – bronze
Varazdin – Sveti Ilija
Matija Kitner
Grasevina 2024 – bronze
Marusevec
Dvorac Marusevec
Sauvignon Blanc 2024 – bronze
Pinot Blanc 2924 – bronze
Jeannie in a bottle (Rose) – bronze
Tomasevec Biskupecki
Kobal Damir
Grasevina 2024 – bronze
Rajnski Rizling 2024 – bronze
Ivanec
Robert Buhin
Sauvignon 2024 – bronze
Opatija
Vina Mandic
Malvazija 2023 – bronze
Hvar
Jurica Milatic
Gospodin Biskup Plavac 2022 – silver
Korcula
Vina Bleus
Posip Bleus 2023 – bronze
Cuvee Bleus 2023 (Posip and Chardonnay) – bronze
Photographs: DWWA/Nic Crilly-Hargrave
22 June 2025
