Sparkling breakfast in Pavlomir gathered around 200 guests and confirmed Kvarner's increasingly strong eno-gastro profile
In the vineyards of Pavlomir Winery in Novi Vinodolski on Saturday, June 6, 2026, the fourth edition of the event Sparkling Breakfast in the Vineyard – Kvarner was held, an event that combines Kvarner sparkling wines, local delicacies, music and time spent outdoors. According to the report by Novi list and information from the organizers, this year's edition gathered around 200 visitors, with a strictly limited number of tickets in order to preserve a calmer character of the event, adapted to a countryside setting. The breakfast was held in cooperation with the Tourist Board of the Town of Novi Vinodolski, Pavlomir Winery, winemakers gathered around the Kvarner Wines association and the Vinske zvijezde project. The conceptual initiator of the format is wine promoter and editor of the Vinske zvijezde magazine Marija Vukelić, whose project Sparkling Breakfast in the Vineyard has over the past years become a recognizable model of wine gatherings in nature.
This year, the event further strengthened the role of Novi Vinodolski as a place where wine tourism is presented not only through wine tasting, but also through a complete experience of the area. The Pavlomir vineyards, located in the Vinodol Valley, served as a natural stage for a meeting of winemakers, local food producers, hospitality partners and visitors interested in products from Kvarner. According to the announcement by the Tourist Board of the Town of Novi Vinodolski, the program was planned from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with breakfast accompanied by sparkling wines, an educational workshop on pairing Kvarner sparkling wines and scampi, and a final presentation of new wines in the En Primeur Kvarner format. After the event was held, it was confirmed that precisely such a program structure enabled a combination of relaxed socializing and more expert wine content.
Limited number of tickets and emphasis on the vineyard atmosphere
One of the features of this year's edition was the deliberately limited number of participants. The director of the Tourist Board of the Town of Novi Vinodolski, Ivona Tatalović, told Novi list that interest in the event is high every year, but that the organizers wanted to maintain a pleasant atmosphere without excessive crowds. In this way, the organizational concept remained closer to a boutique event than to a mass manifestation, which is important for eno-gastronomic programs that rely on direct contact between visitors and winemakers, food producers and hosts. In such a format, visitors can talk with exhibitors, receive explanations about the wines they are tasting and at the same time move around the space without the impression of fair-like overcrowding.
The setting was designed as a combination of a shared breakfast and more intimate corners for relaxation. The submitted report states that guests could sit on benches, hay or in the shade of trees, while the spatial design and photo location were created by the agency Čarolija – detalji čine razliku. The visual part of the event had an additional role because photographs and posts from the vineyard quickly found their way to social networks, which today is an important part of the promotion of eno-gastro events. However, wines, food and meetings with producers nevertheless remained at the center of the event, not only the scenery.
According to the organizers' report, the first part of the program was reserved for breakfast with sparkling wines presented by the winemakers themselves. Jazz music, described as gentle and unobtrusive, accompanied the morning tasting, and Sunny Side Jazz Trio performed in the program. Such a musical framework was aligned with the idea of a slower Saturday morning in the vineyard, without a loud festival rhythm that would overpower conversations and presentations. For visitors who associate Novi Vinodolski with staying on the coast, this kind of event also opens a different view of the destination: toward the vineyard, local producers and the town's hinterland. For those planning an extended stay during similar events, accommodation offers in Novi Vinodolski may also be useful, especially if they want to combine enogastronomy, the sea and a tour of the Vinodol Valley.
Kvarner sparkling wines in the leading role
Alongside Pavlomir Winery, Kvarner sparkling wines were presented by winemakers of the Kvarner Wines association: Ivan Katunar, Nada, Šipun, Plovanić, Ružić and Gospoja. Independent exhibition barrel stands were held by Vina Karleuša, Bakarske terase of the Dolčina Agricultural Cooperative, Vina Mandić and Anton Katunar. Such a selection of exhibitors shows that the event was not conceived only as a presentation of one host winery, but as a regional wine platform. Kvarner bubbles were at the center, but so was the wider context of winemakers shaping the current image of Kvarner as a wine destination.
On its official website, the Kvarner Wines association states that it was founded in 2021 as a marketing and promotional association of several entities, including the Winemakers' Cooperative Producer Organization Vina Kvarnera, the Žlahtina Winegrowers and Wine Producers Association and the Kvarner Quality Association. According to the same source, the association's goal is to promote wines made from indigenous Kvarner varieties, among which žlahtina, belica, jarbola, trojišćina and sansigot stand out. For Sparkling Breakfast in the Vineyard, this is particularly important because the event does not rely only on the trend of sparkling wines, but also on local varieties and the identity of the region.
The host and owner of Pavlomir Winery, Miroslav Palinkaš, emphasized for Novi list that the number of sparkling wine lovers is growing from year to year and that Kvarner stands out for žlahtina and other indigenous varieties. His statement fits into the broader development of the sparkling wine scene in Croatia, but also into the fact that Kvarner has for years been building recognition precisely through varietal identity. The official pages of Pavlomir Winery state that the winery offers žlahtina as a dry white wine, while the pages of the Town of Novi Vinodolski emphasize that the winegrowing and winemaking tradition of the Vinodol Valley reaches far into the past and that Pavlomir today has significant vineyard areas and a tasting room in the heart of the vineyard.
Local ingredients as an equal part of the story
The gastronomic part of the breakfast was based on a large number of local and regional producers. On the tables, according to the submitted report and published post-event report, were Runolist cheeses from Krasno, products of MIH Kolan Cheese Dairy from Pag, Trivić cheeses from Ogulin, and honey and skuta from PZ API Kvarner from Krmpote. The cured meat part of the offer included prosciuttos from the producers Gospoja, Maretić and Smjeli, Buretić Bregi ham, and delicacies made from black Slavonian pig and kulen from the producers OPG Karalić, Marić and OPG Pleša. The offer was supplemented by homemade bread from the Grižane bakery, traditional Bribir prisnac from Vagabundina koliba and Bakarski baškot, one of the recognizable Kvarner products.
A special point of interest was Tonka's fritters in sweet and savory versions. The sweet version was prepared with a cream of dried figs, mascarpone and vanilla, and with a dressing of ruby chocolate and sage. The savory version combined herbs, lemon and sage aioli, tobiko roe, olives and salted anchovies. Such bites show how the traditional form of fritters can be adapted to a more contemporary eno-gastronomic context, especially when combined with sparkling wines that call for food with more pronounced freshness, saltiness or aromatics.
The fruity and sweet finale was brought by homemade cherries from OPG Uremović from Ledenice, Toš chocolate pralines from Crikvenica, Rab cake and cookies by Vilma slastica from Rab. Extra virgin olive oil Oio vivo also arrived from Istria, giving the offer a broader northern Adriatic framework. Although the name of the event emphasized breakfast, the actual offer was closer to a carefully composed eno-gastro table connecting the coast, islands, hinterland and continental producers. Precisely this breadth is one of the reasons why the event fits into the positioning of Kvarner as a region in which gastronomy is viewed through a network of small producers, winemakers, cheesemakers, prosciutto producers, pastry makers and hospitality professionals.
Workshop with scampi and En Primeur Kvarner
The educational part of the program began at noon with a workshop on pairing Kvarner sparkling wines with Kvarner scampi. In its announcement, the Tourist Board of the Town of Novi Vinodolski emphasized that this is an ingredient whose characteristics are shaped by the specific marine conditions of Kvarner, and after the event Novi list reported that Mladen Komadina from Klenovica took care of the scampi. Such a workshop gave the event an additional professional dimension because it enabled visitors to taste sparkling wines not in isolation, but in relation to one of the region's best-known seafood ingredients. Because of their freshness, acidity and texture, sparkling wines often pair well with seafood dishes, and Kvarner scampi is in that sense a logical choice for locally grounded pairing.
The final part of the program was En Primeur Kvarner, a presentation of new wines and vintages from participating wineries. According to the Tourist Board's announcement, after the workshop visitors had the opportunity to taste still wines as well, while Novi list stated after the event that the program enabled the premiere tasting of young still wines before their official market release. The en primeur format is otherwise important because it connects winemakers, professionals and interested audiences at the moment when discussion about new wines is just beginning. In the local context, it additionally helps ensure that attention is not kept only on finished products, but also on the development of vintages, the style of individual wineries and the potential of new wines.
For wineries, such a format has both promotional and educational value. Visitors can directly compare sparkling and still wines, obtain information about varieties, production methods and expectations for the vintage, while winemakers receive feedback from the audience in an informal but content-relevant environment. In combination with breakfast, the workshop and local food, En Primeur Kvarner rounds off the event as an event that is not only a pleasant social outing, but also a place for spreading wine culture.
An event in the year when Kvarner carries a European gastronomic title
This year's Sparkling Breakfast was held at a particularly important moment for regional gastronomy. According to the International Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Arts and Tourism, Kvarner is the European Region of Gastronomy 2026, while the Kvarner Tourist Board emphasizes the diversity of flavors of the islands, coast and mountains in its own materials. In this broader framework, events such as Sparkling Breakfast in the Vineyard gain additional weight because they show how the title can be transformed into concrete programs on the ground. It is not only about branding the region, but about connecting producers, tourist boards, hospitality professionals and visitors through events with recognizable local content.
Ivona Tatalović emphasized for Novi list that Novi Vinodolski enters the summer season with this event and that the event fits into the fact that Kvarner carries a European gastronomic title. Such a statement shows how the season is no longer viewed only through sun and sea, but also through motives for arrival connected with food, wine and authentic local experiences. In that sense, Novi Vinodolski presents itself as a town that, alongside its coastal identity, also has a strong winemaking background. The connection between the town's name and wine is often emphasized in promotion, but events like this give that connection tangible content.
Sparkling Breakfast in the Vineyard – Kvarner is therefore more than a one-off Saturday event. It connects Pavlomir as host, Kvarner winemakers as bearers of the wine story, small food producers as the foundation of local gastronomy and the tourist board as the organizational partner of the destination. The fourth edition showed that interest exists, but also that the value of the event lies precisely in its measure: large enough to gather relevant participants and an audience, and controlled enough to preserve the atmosphere because of which visitors return.
Sources:
- Novi list – report from the fourth Sparkling Breakfast in the Vineyard in Pavlomir, with statements by organizers and a list of participants (link)
- Tourist Board of the Town of Novi Vinodolski – announcement of the program, location, time and organizational framework of the event (link)
- Town of Novi Vinodolski – official announcement of the fourth edition of the event and program elements (link)
- Kvarner Wines – data on the association, promotion goals and indigenous Kvarner varieties (link)
- Pavlomir Winery – official data on the winery, tasting room and wines (link)
- Town of Novi Vinodolski – data on Pavlomir Winery and the winegrowing tradition of the Vinodol Valley (link)
- International Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Arts and Tourism – official confirmation of the title Kvarner, European Region of Gastronomy 2026 (link)