THE WINE ROAD OF THE POREC REGION

Poreč, Parenzo, Parens, Parentium - as was this city called during its long, two-millenium history. Porec was a significant Ancient Roman centre called Colonia Iulia Parentium. Famouse as it was then, as well as nowdays, for its oil production and tasteful wine. One only needs to take a look into the city museum, and allready on the ground-floor there is a large stone monument showin a grape-gatherer carved in stone. There is yet another old and very interesting exhibit related to grapes in the Porec city museum, a small tallow-candle decorated with grapes. In the atrium of the Eufrasian basilica, which was included into the world heritage of  the UNESCO,  a beautiful stone holy feeding place has been preserved, ornamented with vines and grapes. Even a holy ceremony cannot be held without the presence of some wine.
A significant role in the development of wine-growing in the Porec region was played by the foundation of the Agricultural School in the year 1875, during Austro-hungarian rule. The first modern wine-cellar was built on the ground floor of the former St. Francis' Church. In the year 1906, a new Agricultural School with a large wine-cellar was constructed in the town vicinity. Afterwards, in the year 1934, the third cellar "Cantina sociale" (Public Cellar), with a grand underground cellar area, was built. Today, Porec has even its fourth wine-cellar, equipped with modern technology, whose capacity surpassed other historical wine-cellars. The old school was transformed into the Agricultural Institute.
However, our wine road is taking us via the wine-cellars located in the outskirts of town to the hard working wine-growers and vintners. From the small town of Visnjan, a broad "plate" of red soil keeps descending towards the sea and sunshine, i.e. towards southwest, ideal for wine growing. The town of Visnjan has a small, but one of the best preserved, medieval squares. It is worthwile to visit this curiosity, no matter how small it is, with its town portal, church, churchtower, Captain's Palace, balcony and cistern, all lined in a circle. The other branch of our wine road is taking us to the countryside and to the wine-growing hills of the district of Vizinada, following the tracks of the stupefying bouquet of malmsey, teran, merlot...

Vintners and wine-growers of Porec region

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