11th of November is a Saint Martin’s Day / Martinje – a celebration of young wine, grapevine, and winemakers. That’s one of the happiest autumn celebrations in Croatia!
On this day people usually baptize young wine and cook geese with mlinci / guska s mlincima for dinner. It is believed that on this exact day, the grape must is transformed into the young grape wine.
The celebration program includes the degustation of young wine and awarding of the best species.
Martinje is always accompanied by fun costumed performances.
Saint Martin’s Day is especially cherished in winemaking regions of Croatia – Sv. Martin na Muri, Sv, Ivan Zelina, Pozega, Kutjevo, and Istrija.
Saint Martin is a patron of wine and winemaking
According to the legend, a long time ago, on that very same date, Saint Martin’s little donkey, left without supervision, ate a deal of grapevine, after which the remaining grapevine started producing significantly better grapes. People believe the tradition to cut grapevine for improvement of grape quality had begun from that notorious donkey accident.
Besides Croatia, Saint Martin’s day is celebrated in Slovenia, Portugal, and in some of the Italian regions.
On this page used photos from visitdaruvar.hr, zagorje.com