Vuina Winery

Vuina Winery is a family-owned winery from Kaštel Štafilić that continues to nurture a family tradition woven from much effort and love, some of which dates back hundreds of years. Owner Neven Vuina strives to preserve and present the best from it by producing wines from autochthonous varieties of Dalmatia, more precisely from the Kaštela – Trogir wine region. The wines are named Štafileo after the founder of the town of Kaštel Štafilić, Stjepan Stafileo, who was of Greek origin. The surname Stafileo derives from the ancient Greek language, “staphile” meaning grape. The production technology is based on tradition closely linked to modern and new knowledge in viticulture and winemaking. The members of the Vuina family actually make up the winery, giving it a personal touch. From the vineyard to the presentable final product, all tasks are done independently, so that each vine in the vineyard receives special attention, and the wine in each barrel or tank is carefully nurtured to obtain wines of already recognizable quality that can justifiably represent the family, Kaštela, and the Kaštela wine region.

The Vuina family’s vineyards are located in the western part of the Kaštela – Trogir wine region. The vineyards have been in the family’s possession since ancient times.

Neven Vuina – and his four wines from Kaštel Štafilić

In the heart of Štafilić stands Neven Vuina’s stone family house. Only a small sign by the road signals to passersby that something interesting is brewing in that house. Although the house doesn’t have a traditional cellar (either below ground or at ground level), the wines it has been producing for over 50 years are now served to tourists in high-class restaurants across Dalmatia and exported to the USA, Europe, and Scandinavian countries. Neven Vuina welcomed us under the eaves, in good spirits and eager to tell his winemaking story. He’s been making wine since he was a child, alongside his father when quantity was more important than quality, and almost all the wine was given to agricultural cooperatives.

By profession a mechanic, after the war and his father’s death, Neven couldn’t bear to sell the vineyards and the family heritage. Instead, he decided to roll up his sleeves and embark on a wine adventure, as best he knew how. In 2008, he cleared out the ground floor of his house, called in the craftsmen, opened a workshop, and entered the market.

 

Does he regret that decision?

“Not at all, this is life, a way of life. The vineyard takes 100% of a person. I used to spend entire days in the vineyard until I learned everything, but today I’m a little wiser, so I go at 3 in the morning. A gentle spray until dawn, and when the sun rises, the work is done.” And then Mr. Neven goes for coffee, to the sea, lunch, and then another walk, coffee, and the sea again. We wouldn’t mind such a life rhythm.

Vuina manages all four of his vineyards at four different locations alone with his family, with the help of seasonal workers during harvest time. He has two daughters; one has a master’s degree in winemaking, but “she hasn’t told her old man, let’s expand the business yet.” He repeats that the biggest problem is that there’s no one to work. There’s a lot of work to do. Larger wineries have permanent employees; others only have seasonal workers. Good labor force is always lacking, and that is the biggest obstacle to the thought of expanding the business.

Vuina Winery labels about 15 thousand bottles annually. On one and a half hectares of vineyards, he grows his grapes, mostly Crljenak, and buys a bit of Kaštelan Babic for blending.

“Babic instead of water.”

 

“It’s flexible, costs a euro per kilo, gives a beautiful color to the wine, isn’t prone to diseases, and is easy to work with,” praises Vuina Babic and adds, “This variety built this house!”

Namely, in the 1970s, the Kaštela vineyards contained 70% of the Kaštelan Babic variety. During the socialist era, it was in demand because it was generous with its high 12.5% alcohol content. Unfortunately, it is now threatened with extinction, as most still prefer Crljenak, and it’s unfairly neglected in the vineyards. A better distribution of this variety in local restaurants and stores would at least slightly improve the situation. Guests still, out of habit, order Istrian Malvasia and Cabernet Sauvignon, while sitting in Split or Kaštela. According to this winemaker, that should change this summer.

“I drink Babic for lunch; it’s light, it goes down smoothly. It’s my personal favorite variety, although it doesn’t have the potential for aging or winning awards,” confesses our host as he pours us Babic from 2019.

Clear, fruity, tasty, not too heavy on the palate like big wines. After the second sip, we begin to understand why Vuina drinks it every day after lunch, like juice with 12.5% alcohol. We think we could soon follow in his footsteps.

 

New vine in the vineyard

Before Babic, we were served a young but serious Rosé from 2021. He makes it from Crljenak, saying it’s a grateful variety for rosé – it has good acidity, is fragrant, and is harvested a little earlier for rosé production. Every year, he produces around 1000 bottles of this pink beauty, which, despite its tenderness, competes with other wines of this winery with 12.5% alcohol.

After the pleasant rosé and drinkable Babic, Plavac Štafileo from 2017 showed how serious a winemaker Vuina actually is. The good news about this Plavac is that its retail price is around 60 kuna, and the bad news is that it can no longer be found on the shelves of retail chains. There is still some in restaurants, but then, as far as Vuina is concerned, it falls into complete oblivion. Namely, the vines of Plavac are going abroad. He won’t be planting it anymore, and the biggest reason is the competition from island Plavac wines from Hvar, Pelješac, and Brač. This time, they won the battle because Kaštela Plavac wines cannot yet compete with them in the market. It’s important to note – not because of the quality but because of the status. However, Vuina is not worried – he has his own racehorse. And what a horse it is!

After this somewhat sad story, the next one already cheered us up. Instead of Plavac, Greek vine is planted in their vineyards! “It’s an opportunity; there’s too little of it

on the market, but there’s demand. Why wouldn’t I try?” He planted a thousand vines of Greek, and plans another thousand. Since Greek is a single-gender variety, 10% of Pošip is also planted, which will act as a pollinator in this case. The first year will be for personal needs and getting to know the variety. And then, full sail into the production of a new label.

And then, finally, as the fourth, but the best wine of the house, we tasted Crljenak Štafileo 2016 – the winning wine from the wine competition for the Day of the City of Kaštela (March 2022). Approaching the glass, you can already feel the intense scent of the champion from the Kaštela karst.

 

Crljenak travels the world

Crljenak is powerful, stable, fragrant, and strong (14.5% alcohol). Berries, dried plums, cherries, vanilla, a classic big wine aged in barrique barrels and stainless steel. Crljenak is mostly a blend of different Crljenak varieties and a little Plavac; he never puts Babic in that mix. She’s fragile for barrique aging, so her home is exclusively stainless steel, and he’s already explained to us how drinkable she is by herself.

Crljenak Štafileo is the most exported wine, for 10 years now to the USA, Canada, Europe. Recently, proudly says Vuina, it can also be found on the market in Finland.

“The situation is a bit different there at the national level. Namely, there’s a kind of prohibition – the state has a monopoly on alcohol dispensing and wine excise taxes. So it was a challenge to enter that market. But they announced a tender looking for Crljenak. Samples were sent, and our Crljenak Štafileo was chosen.” The first shipment of 800 bottles is already in Finland and can only be bought by restaurants and wine bars.

In 16 barrique barrels and 8 stainless steel ones, Vuina stores his four varieties – Rosé, Babic, Plavac, and Crljenak. The wines are named Štafileo after the founder of the town of Kaštel Štafilić, Stjepan Stafileo, who was of Greek origin. Here’s an interesting coincidence – in a few years, we’ll come for a sip of the new wine, Grk Štafileo 2023.