Dunav Wine Festival on Principovac

Principovac above Ilok on Friday, October 9, was once again the meeting place for top wines and gastronomy. The third Dunav Wine Festival brought together winemakers and numerous wine lovers for an evening dedicated to the rich offer of Slavonia and the Croatian Danube region, with the ceremonial awarding of the international ITER VITIS Awards 2026.

The Ilok Cellars and producers of local delicacies provided gastronomic delights, while DJ Andy Boy completed the atmosphere. "We want the Dunav Wine Festival to be more than a classic wine festival, an event that will attract visitors with quality content, flavors and an overall experience. In addition to the wines of Ilok winemakers, we also presented the best-rated wines of our members from the entire region in 2026, with the aim of spreading wine culture and developing wine tourism in eastern Croatia," said Tomislav Panenić, director of Graševina Croatica.

The festival has built a recognizable place on the wine and tourism scene, and its concept was awarded the "Sunflower of Rural Tourism" in the "Gastronomic Events and Events" category in 2025. "Wine tourism is one of the great potentials of our county, and that is why it is important for us to support the people and projects that develop it. We are pleased to be a partner of Graševina Croatica in organizing a festival that promotes our winemakers and their wines, and gives visitors the opportunity to get to know the richness of Srijem and Slavonia," said Ana Krpan, director of the Vukovar-Srijem County Tourist Board.

At the ITER VITIS Awards 2026 ceremony, two of the 19 international awards went to Croatian winners. The City of Ilok and the Tourist Board of the City of Ilok were awarded in the Best Winery / Wine Route Investing in Culture category for connecting wine, culture and the tourist identity of the destination, and the Tourist Board of Osijek-Baranja County in the Best Wine Tourism Communication Tool category for promoting wine tourism through the Wine Month project. The ceremony was led by Emanuela Panke, President of the European Cultural Route ITER VITIS, and Dijana Katica, President of the Croatian Association for Tourism and Rural Development "Klub člana Selo" and the Croatian branch of ITER VITIS. The awards were presented by Marinko Beljo, State Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Sandra Posavec, Director of the Directorate for Sustainable Development and Public Tourism Infrastructure at the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, Darko Dimić, Deputy Prefect of Vukovar-Srijem County, and Darko Dobošević, President of the City Council of the City of Ilok.

"Our goal was to present the wine story of Ilok, Srijem, Slavonia and Baranja to international guests and to show how far Croatian wine tourism has progressed. What sets us apart is precisely our authentic, boutique story, full of emotion and people who do their job with great love," said Dijana Katica.

"This is a great recognition for an event that has long outgrown its name and has become much more than a month of wine events. This year we had a record 14 events at 12 locations, from May 1 to July 10, during which visitors could enjoy the combination of wine, nature, cultural heritage and gastronomy," said Mislav Matišić, director of the Osijek-Baranja County Tourist Board.