As the old and wise saying goes, the wine tale begins in the vineyards. The tale about wine roads of Istria and the Istrian wine renaissance originated in the early '90s of the last century, primarily in the minds of a few wine lovers and of the young, enthusiastic winemakers, who wanted to make some changes.

A cliché about Istrian people as being «excellent wine-growers but bad winemakers» has become quite fatiguing and, in order to talk their fathers into producing wine in a completely new way in terms of technology, some sons had to get into an argument with them, while others took winemaking as an adventure worth trying since they have never dealt with it earlier. Wine roads of Istria have become customary nowadays, as have the quality wines which can be tasted in about a hundred wine cellars all over Istria. But that wasn't always the case; merely a few of those visiting these cellars today spare a moment, wandering at how things were some ten years ago.

The winemakers we are presenting you in this booklet deserve full credit for making the present-day winemaking reality more alluring than the one existing not so long ago. They are pioneers in the best of ways of what might be referred to as the blend of tradition and the new way of thinking about winemaking in general. It is their special, almost lover's attitude, towards the traditional, indigenous quality wines of Istria, such as Malvasia, the Momjan Muscatel and Teran, that makes their products so interesting. They are really putting an effort to make good wine from the «minor» quality grapes, which can be enjoyed all over the world. Currently, we have made a selection of the following winemakers for your own reference, but in the future, there will also be room for others in our next printings. For all those who, apart from fine wine, will make extra efforts fo offer some new related services, nicely refurbished tasting rooms, a recognizable brand...

Therefore, we truly hope that this publication will provoke other local winemakers to try and combine tradition and quality with more enthusiasm and passion.