Krauthaker
Vlado Krauthaker, BE Agronomy and oenologist, owner of Krauthaker Vineyards and Winery, contributes to rich winegrowing and winemaking tradition of Kutjevo region. At the time of its founding, the winery owned 1 hectare of vineyards, however by 2010, the winery became owner of 32 hectares of vineyards. The winery operates additional 68 hectares of third party owned vineyards.
A particular attention is paid to indigenous Welschriesling variety – Chardonnay, which is frequently awarded gold medals at fairs and wine exhibitions. We would like to emphasize environmentally friendly winegrowing and constant quality as a major principle of our production.
Quality and success of our wines is best described by numerous medals received at globally renowned wine competitions and tastings.
In our cellar, all types of wines are nourished and matured – ranging from spätlese to trockenbeerenauslese.” Because of preserved nature, a favourable climate and terroir, and above all high-quality soil where, apart from indigenous Welschriesling (Graševina), we grow grape varieties of world renown – 25 different wine labels are shipped by our cellar.
Magic of colours, taste and scent underpins our entire wine palette which includes spätlese and auslese wines as well. Experiments and our desire to return techniques used more than 100 years ago to the vineyards and the cellar are constant sources of pleasant surprises to us. They serve to validate our winegrowing practice following environmentally friendly principles, in harmony with nature’s feedback and spur us on. In keeping with that idea, we go about farming and winegrowing as it was once done – using horses.
Krauthaker vineyards are found at 45.3° North, the same geographic line that extends westwards through the most famous winegrowing regions of the world: Istria, Piedmont, Val du Rhone, Bordeaux and Oregon.
Our vineyards are located in Kutjevo winegrowing region on the southern slopes of Krndija. Elevation of the vineyards relative to the sea level ranges from 200 and 300 metres. As annual precipitation ranges between 500 and 800 mm of rainfall per square metre – the climate, terroir and weather conditions provide excellent environment for winegrowing.
Veliki šumski sklopovi Krndije i Papuka štite vinorodne položaje smještene u Venju, Hrnjevcu, Vetovu, Mitrovcu, Kutjevu i drugdje od ponekada i tijekom ljeta oštrih sjevernih vjetrova.
Our vineyards are situated in several locations. Over time, we have realized that each one of the locations, even though not far apart, is specific and yielding grapes used to make wines with particular characteristics. Therefore we began incorporating particular micro-locations and corresponding toponyms in wine labels. Even though the same varieties are used, different wines made of grapes from each of the micro-locations differ in bouquet, aroma, terroir and other properties specific to the wines.
Sandy soil at higher elevation, with scarce humus, formed atop sediment rocks, provides an ideal, warm base for grapes during its vegetation period in July, August and September. The soil is often rocky and loamy, and combined with below average precipitation, it requires both experience and vast knowledge. The soil is fertilized using manure only, and planting density of 7,000 to 10,000 vines per hectare provides each plant with a living area of approximately 1.4 square metres.
The wines are regularly present at exhibitions and fairs in Croatia and elsewhere throughout the world. Their qualities are confirmed by medals and professional awards received at numerous wine competitions.
Decanter World Wine Awards, Chardonnay du Monde, Challenge International du Vin, MUNDUSvini Great International Wine Award, Međunarodni festival graševine… are some of competitions where we often receive prizes.