Vineyards with a View 2026 return to Kota Winery: fifth edition brings together 20 Zagorje winemakers
The fifth edition of the Vineyards with a View event will be held on Friday, 12 June 2026, at Kota Winery in Gornja Batina near Zlatar, starting at 5 p.m. According to the announcement by the Krapina-Zagorje County Tourist Board and the official website of the event, the programme is conceived as an evening eno-gastro event in a vineyard setting, with wine tasting, a specially prepared gastronomic offer and a music programme. The event will last until 10 p.m., and the venue is listed as Kota Winery, Gornja Batina 88, Zlatar, with the coordinates 46.12396218659261, 16.102995673650337.
The event takes place two weeks after 01 June 2026, so the announcement refers to the upcoming June weekend in Hrvatsko zagorje. The organiser announces a gathering of 20 Zagorje winemakers, more than 100 wine labels for tasting, a gastro menu by the Purga restaurant and a music programme handled by DJ Goran. The participation price is €60 per person, and according to the announcement, that price includes wine tasting, one of the offered gastro menus and the music programme. It is specifically stated that the €10 deposit for a wine glass is not included in the price, is paid upon arrival and is returned when the glass is returned.
An event that connects wine, gastronomy and a view of the Zagorje hills
Vineyards with a View is designed as a travelling event that highlights a different winegrowing area of Zagorje each year. According to the official website of the event, the idea of the event is to present Zagorje wineries through an experience based not only on tasting wine, but also on an encounter with the landscape, gastronomy and local wine culture. Such a format is especially important for wine regions in which the experience of place is inseparable from the glass itself: vineyards, wine cottages, hills and viewpoints in Zagorje are often an equally strong part of the identity as the wine labels.
The announcement of the fifth edition emphasises that visitors will gather at Kota Winery, one of the Zagorje wineries located in the rolling landscape around Zlatar. According to data from the Zlatni istok Zagorja Tourist Board, Kota Winery is located in Gornja Batina, and visits to the winery are otherwise possible by prior arrangement. The winery’s official website states that it is a small boutique winery in the wine region of Bregovita Hrvatska, with vineyards of Chardonnay and Sauvignon and annual production of around 10,000 bottles of sparkling wines and wines.
The host of this year’s edition is also one of the wineries whose name is associated with a more modern approach to the Zagorje wine scene. According to the winery’s own data, Kota wines are recognisable for the fact that some labels carry the altitude mark of the vineyard from which they originate. The winery also states that its sparkling wines are produced using the classic method, that is, by secondary fermentation in the bottle, while wine production uses ageing on lees, known as the sur lie method. These details give the broader event additional context because the fifth edition is not taking place only in a tasting space, but in a winery whose work fits into the wider story of the rise of Zagorje sparkling wines and fresh white wines.
20 wineries and more than 100 labels in one place
According to the organiser’s announcement, 20 Zagorje winemakers will present their wines at the fifth edition of Vineyards with a View. The list of participants includes Vinarija Bodren, Bolfan Vinski Vrh, Vuglec Breg, Vinarija Micak, Vinarija Grozaj, Vina Herceg, Vina JasWin, Vinarija Kopjar, Kupilek, Vinarija Petrač, Vinarija Petrišić, Vina Petrovečki, Prekratić Vino, Vinarija TRS Sever, Vina Vitus, Vina Zdolc, Vinarija Enolog, Boutique Winery Žerjavić, Vina Hren and the host of the event, Vinarija Kota. The organiser states that more than 100 wine labels will be on offer, making the event one of the more comprehensive overviews of the current Zagorje wine offer in one place.
The broader significance of such a gathering also stems from Zagorje’s position within Croatian wine geography. According to the Ordinance on Viticulture published in Narodne novine, the winegrowing region of Središnja bregovita Hrvatska is divided into several subregions, among which is Zagorje – Međimurje. The association of winemakers and winegrowers Bregovita Hrvatska states that it brings together winemakers from several counties, including Krapina-Zagorje County, and that it was founded to improve viticulture and promote wines from the Središnja bregovita Hrvatska region. Within this framework, Zagorje winemakers have in recent years increasingly appeared together, while events such as Vineyards with a View also serve as a showcase of regional identity.
The official website of the event also particularly highlights the Zagorski bregi brand, which is associated with light, fresh white wines obtained by blending several varieties. According to the organiser’s description, it is an attempt at a joint presentation of wines traditionally connected with Hrvatsko zagorje, but in a more contemporary and more quality-consistent form. Such a model shows that the event is not merely a one-day tasting, but part of a broader process of positioning Zagorje wineries within the eno-gastronomic offer of continental Croatia.
The gastronomic offer of the Purga restaurant and the music programme
Alongside wine tasting, a specially designed gastronomic offer has also been announced. According to the programme, each participant chooses one gastro menu from the Purga restaurant within the ticket price. Three options are offered: spit-roasted suckling pig with baked beans and Zagorje štrukli, rolled turkey thigh with mlinci, roast sauce and Zagorje štrukli, and Zagorje goulash soup with porcini mushrooms, bacon, homemade dried sausages and pieces of pork, also served with Zagorje štrukli.
The choice of such dishes fits the character of the event because it emphasises the combination of wine and more traditional Zagorje cuisine. Zagorje štrukli, mlinci, spit-roasted dishes and richer-tasting soups are part of the gastronomic repertoire often associated with continental excursion and wine tourism. In the context of a wine tasting, such a menu also has a practical function: it enables visitors to connect the tasting of several labels with a concrete dish, making it easier to notice the differences between fresher white wines, sparkling wines, aromatic varieties and fuller styles.
DJ Goran has been announced for the atmosphere, and the programme lasts from late afternoon into the evening. This time frame, from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., places the event between a wine tasting, an early dinner and a musical gathering outdoors or in the winery space, depending on organisational conditions and the weather. Since the number of places is limited, the organiser directs interested visitors to make reservations via the address mario.buncec@visitzagorje.hr or the number +385 98 251 536. According to the published note, it is advisable to make a reservation in time because the event is based on limited capacity, not on a fully open festival format.
Kota Winery as a return to the beginning of the event
The holding of the fifth edition at Kota Winery also has a symbolic dimension. According to a publication by Krapina-Zagorje County, the first edition of Vineyards with a View was held on 4 June 2022 precisely at Kota Winery in Zlatar, when eleven Zagorje winemakers presented their wines. The county publication stated at the time that the event was organised by the Krapina-Zagorje County Tourist Board and that the event would continue in other Zagorje wineries. Four years later, the programme returns to the same host, but with a larger number of winemakers and a broader range of wine labels.
In the meantime, the event expanded through other Zagorje locations. The Croatian National Tourist Board announced that the fourth edition in 2025 was held at Vuglec Breg, with the participation of 17 Zagorje winemakers. A comparison with this year’s announcement shows the growth of the format: the fifth edition announces 20 winemakers and more than 100 labels. This information speaks not only of a larger number of participants, but also of an increasingly strong need for the joint presentation of small and medium-sized wineries to an audience that wants to get an overview of the offer without visiting several locations in one day.
For Kota Winery, the return of the event means additional visibility in a space where wine production, excursion tourism and local gastronomy intertwine. According to the winery’s official data, its vineyards are located on elevated terrain, and production is based on Chardonnay and Sauvignon, two varieties that suit the fresher wine profile of Bregovita Hrvatska well. For visitors coming from outside the immediate surroundings, the location in Gornja Batina can also be a reason for a longer tour of Zlatar, Marija Bistrica, Konjščina and other places in the eastern part of Zagorje. Because of the evening timing of the event, it is useful to check in advance accommodation around Zlatar and the possibilities of organised return transport.
Practical information for visitors
The announced programme will be held on Friday, 12 June 2026, from 5.00 p.m. to 10.00 p.m. The location is Kota Winery, Gornja Batina 88, Zlatar, and the published coordinates of the event venue are 46.12396218659261, 16.102995673650337. The price is €60 per person and includes the tasting of more than 100 wine labels from 20 Zagorje winemakers, one gastro menu from the Purga restaurant and the music programme. Upon arrival, visitors should also take into account a €10 deposit for a wine glass, which is returned after the glass is returned.
- Date: Friday, 12 June 2026.
- Time: from 5.00 p.m. to 10.00 p.m.
- Location: Kota Winery, Gornja Batina 88, Zlatar
- Coordinates: 46.12396218659261, 16.102995673650337
- Price: €60 per person
- Additional note: the deposit for a wine glass is €10 and is returned when the glass is returned
- Reservations: mario.buncec@visitzagorje.hr, +385 98 251 536
Since this is a wine event with a limited number of places, timely reservation and planning of arrival are recommended. For visitors who intend to taste a larger number of wines, it is especially important to arrange transport or an overnight stay in advance, because the event is held in the evening outside a larger urban centre. In the announcement, the organiser does not mention additional public transport lines or special transport arrangements, so logistical planning is left to the participants.
Why events like this are important for Zagorje
The Krapina-Zagorje County Tourist Board emphasises on the Visit Zagorje portal that the destination, alongside relaxation and eno-gastronomy, offers numerous historical and cultural attractions. In wine tourism, precisely this combination is important: the visitor does not come only for a tasting, but connects wine with the landscape, local cuisine, excursions and cultural points in the surroundings. The Vineyards with a View event fits into such a model because it presents wineries as part of a broader experience of the region, and not only as producers of individual labels.
For winemakers, a joint appearance is an opportunity to meet an audience that may know only part of the Zagorje offer. In one place, the styles of different wineries can be compared, from sparkling wines and fresh white wines to dessert, aromatic or blended labels. For the destination, it is at the same time an opportunity to strengthen the recognisability of Zagorje as a wine region in which small wineries, restaurants, excursion sites and tourist boards increasingly rely on joint programmes.
The fifth edition of Vineyards with a View can therefore be seen as a continuation of an event that, from its first edition at Kota Winery, has grown into a recognisable eno-gastro gathering. This year’s return to Gornja Batina brings together a larger number of winemakers than earlier editions and places emphasis on an experience that connects tasting, food, music and landscape. According to the published information, the programme remains concentrated in one afternoon and evening, but in terms of content it provides a cross-section of what has made the Zagorje wine scene stand out more clearly in recent years: wine freshness, the growing quality of sparkling wines, joint branding and a strong connection with the hilly landscape.
Sources:
- Krapina-Zagorje County Tourist Board / Vineyards with a View – official announcement of the fifth edition and list of wineries (link)
- Zlatni istok Zagorja Tourist Board – data on the location and contact of Kota Winery (link)
- Vina Kota – description of the winery, vineyards and production of sparkling wines and wines (link)
- Krapina-Zagorje County – publication about the first edition of the Vineyards with a View event in 2022 (link)
- Croatian National Tourist Board – publication about the fourth edition of the Vineyards with a View event in 2025 (link)
- Narodne novine – Ordinance on Viticulture and the division of the Središnja bregovita Hrvatska winegrowing region (link)
- Bregovita Hrvatska Association – information on the regional organisation of winemakers and winegrowers (link)