At the heart of the Island of Wine are the picturesque villages of Svirče, Vrisnik, Vrbanj, Pitve and Dol, nestled in the wooded hills below the peak of Sv Nikola. The vineyards are built as terraced steps in the surrounding hills and valleys, where seasonal streams feed the vines.
The famous south-facing slopes of the Hvar Beaches lie directly across the mountain - accessible in the old days only by a long trek up and over the passes. Because of the difficulties of getting there to work in the fields, the settlements of Ivan Dolac and Sv Nedelja grew up on the southern shores. Today it's a much easier drive through the Pitve-Zavala tunnel.
Below the hills of Svirče stretch the fields of the Stari Grad Plain. This is where the Island of Wine story really starts, when this fertile plain was systematically laid out and cultivated by the ancient Greeks and later improved by the Romans. Then, as now, the crops were grapevines, olives and figs.
At the eastern edge of the Stari Grad Plain, and providing access to the sea for the villages in the heart of the wine country, is the town of Jelsa, and the small fishing harbour of Vrboska.
Along the backbone of the island lie the higher vineyards, and at the Eastern tip the small port of Sučuraj provides a convenient point of entry to Hvar the Island of Wine.
Svirče | PZ Svirče | Tasting and wine sales |
Vina Carić | Wine tasting in konoba "Kod None", sales | |
Pitve | Vina Marijan | Sales |
Sv Nedjelja | Zlatan Otok | Sales, tasting room and restaurant |
Jelsa | Vina Tomić | Main winery (sales and tasting) and tasting room in town |
Duboković | Sales and tasting | |
Vina Huljić | Winery and cellar (sales and tasting, restaurant) | |
Vrboska | Vina Pinjata | Sales and tasting |
Milna | Tudor | Sales and tasting |
Hvar | Vina Carić | Tasting room and sales, other island products |
Luviji | Sales | |
Sučuraj | Podrum Vujnović | Sales and tasting |
Bogdanuša Evening, Svirče (June 22) Wine Tasting of one of Hvar's indigenous varieties Bogdanuša, by the Hvar Winemakers' Association
Sv. Mandalina,Svirče (July 22): Folk Festival
Tasting wines from Hvar - July and August - Sv. Ivan Square, Jelsa by the Hvar Winemakers' Association
Wine Festival - Tourist Board of Jelsa - late August
Procession "Za Križen" - Maundy Thursday when six villages in the heart of the island take part in the 500-year-old tradition of the "Za Križen" procession of the cross (UNESCO).