Zlatan Otok

In 1986 he started making wine for his guests, hand-building his first cellar and convincing local growers to sell him grapes on credit. By 1991, Zlatan Otok became only the second private winery licensed in Croatia after the fall of communism — a genuine pioneer of the country's post-Yugoslav wine revival.

Nearly four decades later, the fisherman with no formal training has built one of Croatia's largest and most awarded private wineries, with his flagship red recognised among the best in the world. Let's see how he did it.

From Fishing Nets to Wine Barrels: The History of Zlatan Otok

Zlatan Plenković had no formal winemaking training and no family cellar to inherit — just a fisherman's instinct that the steep, terraced slopes above Sveta Nedjelja, first planted by Augustinian monks back in the 16th century, could produce something special. He started small in 1986, making wine to serve guests at his own seaside guesthouse, using grapes bought on credit from neighbours who'd mostly given up on the difficult, near-vertical parcels.

When Croatia moved away from state-controlled agriculture, Plenković moved fast: Zlatan Otok became officially licensed in 1991, making it only the second private winery in the entire country. He kept replanting abandoned terraces that other growers considered too steep and too much work, betting that the extreme southern exposure and reflected sea light were exactly what Plavac Mali needed to ripen fully.

The bet paid off. Today the Plenković family farms vineyards on Hvar, near Baška Voda, and around Šibenik, making Zlatan Otok one of the largest private wineries in Croatia — and in 2009, Zlatan Plenković was named a Croatian Wine Knight, an honour that, under the tradition's own rules, meant he'd earned enough recognition to retire from competing for further titles.

The Taste: Grand Cru Reds from Impossible Slopes

Zlatan Otok's range runs from everyday drinking wines to the bottle that put the winery on the world stage:

• Zlatan Plavac Grand Cru: The flagship, sourced from the steepest, most sun-exposed terraces above Sveta Nedjelja. Powerful and full-bodied, with ripe dark fruit and vanilla oak — it was once named among the ten best red wines in the world at a French tasting.
• Plavac (entry range): A more approachable, everyday expression of the same grape, still carrying the concentration Hvar's climate delivers.
• Pošip and Bogdanuša: Crisp, aromatic whites that balance the winery's reputation as a red-wine powerhouse.

More Than Wine: Zlatan Otok's Place on Hvar

• A pioneer of private winemaking: As Croatia's second-ever licensed private winery, Zlatan Otok helped open the door for the small, independent producers that now define the country's wine renaissance.
• Reviving impossible terraces: The winery's steep, hand-terraced vineyards above Sveta Nedjelja are a visible reminder of what persistence can do with land everyone else had given up on.
• An international benchmark: The Grand Cru's placement among the world's best reds gave Plavac Mali — and Croatian wine more broadly — a level of international credibility it hadn't had before.

Perfect Pairings: Enjoying Zlatan Otok Wines with Island Food

These are big, structured wines built for equally bold island food:

• Zlatan Plavac Grand Cru: Pairs superbly with Peka-style lamb or octopus, grilled steak, or hard aged sheep's cheese from the islands.
• Pošip: A great match for grilled fish, seafood risotto, or a simple plate of island prosciutto.

Finding Zlatan Otok Wines

• At the source: The original cellar and tasting room in Sveta Nedjelja on Hvar remains open to visitors — check zlatanotok.hr for tastings.
• Across Croatia: As one of the country's largest private producers, Zlatan Otok wines are widely available in supermarkets, wine shops, and restaurants nationwide.
• Internationally: Exported across Europe and beyond — the Grand Cru in particular is a common find at specialty wine retailers.

Živjeli uz Zlatan Otok! Here's to the fisherman who looked at an impossible slope and saw a Grand Cru.