Sv. Ivan Zelina confirmed its status as a top wine destination: Zelina sauvignons among the best in the world
Sv. Ivan Zelina has once again confirmed that its wine story has long surpassed local boundaries. The results of the 17th edition of the Sauvignon Selection by Concours Mondial de Bruxelles competition, held in Varaždin from April 7 to 9, 2026, brought strong confirmation of the quality of sauvignons from Bregovita Hrvatska, especially from the Zelina and Prigorje area. At one of the world’s most important evaluations dedicated to the sauvignon blanc variety, Croatia won a total of 13 medals, and the most prominent success went to the Puhelek Purek winery from Sv. Ivan Zelina, whose Sauvignon 2025 won Grand Gold, the competition’s highest recognition.
Such a result is especially significant because Sauvignon Selection by CMB is a specialized international competition in which wines are evaluated against producers from the world’s best-known sauvignon regions. This year, Varaždin hosted about one thousand samples from 25 countries, and the evaluation was carried out by an international jury composed of wine experts, sommeliers, journalists, distributors and other market connoisseurs. The organizers emphasized that the wines are evaluated using the blind tasting method, with the focus on varietal typicality, style, quality and the overall impression of the wine.
For
visitors planning to explore accommodation in Sv. Ivan Zelina, this result further strengthens the image of the town as a destination where enology, tradition and modern wine tourism are increasingly connected. Sv. Ivan Zelina has been building the identity of a wine center of continental Croatia for decades, and the new international recognitions show that local producers are no longer only guardians of local tradition, but also serious participants on the global wine scene.
Grand Gold for Puhelek Purek among the world’s sauvignons
The greatest Croatian success at this year’s Sauvignon Selection was achieved by the Puhelek Purek winery, whose Sauvignon 2025 won the Grand Gold medal. Grand Gold at this competition was awarded to 18 wines from eight countries, including, besides Croatia, Italy, France, Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, South Africa and New Zealand. The very fact that a Zelina sauvignon found itself in the company of wines from the world’s best-known wine-growing areas speaks of the reach that the Croatian continental wine scene has achieved in recent years.
Ivana Puhelek from the Puhelek Purek winery pointed out that the award is an exceptional recognition and confirmation that Croatian sauvignon can stand side by side with the best in the world. She also emphasized the importance of combining terroir, knowledge and modern technologies, stating that top wines today are created equally in the vineyard and in the cellar. In her statement, the message particularly stands out that with this recognition Zelina, Prigorje, Central Bregovita Hrvatska and Croatia have been placed on the world map of sauvignon with sauvignon from last year’s vintage.
The Puhelek Purek winery has more than a century of family wine-growing tradition. According to the winery’s own data, all family members are involved in vineyard work and wine production, and the winery is located on a Zelina hill. In its public presentation, the winery is especially associated with sauvignon and kraljevina, varieties that have marked its identity. The CMB Grand Gold also builds on earlier international recognitions, among which Decanter gold for sauvignon won several years ago is particularly mentioned.
This success is not an isolated case, but a continuation of the long-term positioning of the Zelina area as a region that gives sauvignon a recognizable character. In such wines, a balance of freshness, aromatics, varietal purity and minerality is often sought, and these are precisely the elements that make sauvignon blanc one of the most recognizable white varieties on the international market. When a wine from a relatively small family winery wins the highest medal in competition with labels from globally known regions, it speaks not only about one cellar, but also about the potential of the entire wine-growing area.
Gold for Bedekovich and silver for Litterarii further highlighted the Zelina area
The success of Sv. Ivan Zelina at the Sauvignon Selection did not stop at Grand Gold. A gold medal was also won by the Bedekovich winery from Bedenica, not far from Sv. Ivan Zelina, for the wine Sauvignon Springtime Premium Eko 2025. Dražen Bedeković from the Bedekovich winery said that he is especially pleased by another gold at the world’s most prestigious sauvignon competition, recalling that the winery also won gold medals at this competition in 2021, 2024 and 2026. According to him, such a series confirms that high quality is not an exception, but a standard that the winery strives to maintain from year to year.
Bedeković particularly emphasized the importance of Bregovita Hrvatska, Prigorje and Bedenica as a sauvignon region, as well as the promotion of ecological wine production. The Bedekovich winery is focused on ecological grape and wine production, and in the description of the wine Sauvignon Springtime Premium Eko, freshness, aromas of lime, grass, green pepper and elderflower, as well as fullness and balance, are highlighted. Such a profile fits well into modern market expectations, where wines of clear origin, pronounced varietal character and a production philosophy that respects the environment are increasingly sought after.
A silver medal was also brought to Croatia by the Litterarii winery from Sv. Ivan Zelina with the wine Sauvignon blanc 2023. Thus, the Zelina area was represented at this year’s competition at all levels of success: from Grand Gold, through gold, to silver. Such a range of recognitions is especially important because it shows the breadth of quality, not just the individual breakthrough of a single producer. For
accommodation near Zelina wineries and wine events, it is increasingly clear that not only the tourist offer is developing, but also the reason for arrival: an internationally confirmed wine scene.
The overall Croatian result is also strong. According to published results and reports, Croatian winemakers won one Grand Gold, five gold and seven silver awards. Gold medals, alongside Bedekovich, were won by Enosophia for Nobleman 2025, Kopjar for Sauvignon Blanc Premium Kopjar 2023, Kutjevo for De Gotho Sauvignon 2025 and Vina Franković for Sauvignon 2025. Silver awards went to wines from the producers Tomaz, Galić, Lagradi, Kopjar, Litterarii, Vlahović and Ivančić vina. Such a result confirms that the quality of sauvignon in Croatia is developing in several wine-growing areas, but also that Bregovita Hrvatska has a particularly strong role in that story.
Varaždin as a stage for international confirmation of Croatian wines
This year’s edition of Sauvignon Selection by CMB was the first held in Croatia. Varaždin thereby became the international center of one of the most important wine events dedicated to sauvignon, and the event, according to organizational announcements, gathered around fifty wine experts from more than twenty countries. The competition was held from April 7 to 9, 2026, and in addition to wine evaluation it included a broader program presenting northern Croatia, local producers and the wine-tourism potential of the region.
According to available information from announcements and reports, about 11 percent of the submitted wines came from Croatia, which is a significant share for a country that is only breaking through on the global sauvignon market among the most recognizable producers. Vinart director Saša Špiranec, who participated in bringing the competition to Croatia, pointed out that sauvignon and sparkling wines in this part of the country give exceptionally good results and that the event was an opportunity to present this fact to international experts.
Sauvignon Selection by CMB is part of the broader system of Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, an internationally known wine evaluation organization. The organizers state that the wines are evaluated independently and by the blind tasting method, and the competition is conceived as a meeting point for producers, enologists, sommeliers, distributors, journalists and other actors in the wine industry. Such a format gives weight to the medals because the result does not depend on the producer’s market reputation, but on the evaluation of the wine in the glass.
For Croatia, holding the competition in Varaždin also had promotional value that goes beyond the limits of the evaluation itself. The arrival of international judges and experts enabled the presentation of Bregovita Hrvatska in direct contact with professionals who shape the perception of wine on the markets of Europe and the world. In that sense, the medals won at the competition are not only recognitions for producers, but also an argument in building the broader identity of Croatia as a country of serious, characterful and market-relevant white wines.
Why sauvignon is important for the identity of Bregovita Hrvatska
Sauvignon blanc is a variety that is associated worldwide with pronounced aromatics, freshness and the ability to clearly reflect the climate from which it comes. In cooler and moderate wine-growing areas, it often gives wines of emphasized freshness, herbal and citrus profile, while in warmer conditions it can develop riper fruit notes. Precisely because of this, the variety is accompanied by great expectations: the market recognizes styles from the Loire, New Zealand, Austria, Italy and South Africa, but at the same time seeks new regions that can offer a different, authentic expression.
Bregovita Hrvatska, in this context, is increasingly imposing itself as an area that gives sauvignon the necessary freshness, aromatic precision and balance. Prigorje, Zelina and the surrounding wine-growing areas have a long viticultural tradition, but in recent years investments in knowledge, enological equipment, vineyard work and clearer market positioning have gained increasing importance. The success of Puhelek Purek, Bedekovich and Litterarii confirms that local producers are not relying only on tradition, but also on expertise and the continuous raising of standards.
It is important to emphasize that international recognitions do not happen in an empty space. Sv. Ivan Zelina has a long tradition of wine exhibitions, and the town’s tourist board emphasizes that it is a town with a tradition of holding wine exhibitions older than one and a half centuries. The Exhibition of Wines of Continental Croatia in Sv. Ivan Zelina is one of the recognizable events that has for years gathered producers from different parts of the country, and its results often announce broader quality trends in continental winemaking.
The Zelina area is also especially known for the indigenous kraljevina, but the success of sauvignon shows that local identity does not have to be tied only to one variety. On the contrary, precisely the combination of indigenous and international varieties can be an advantage for a destination that wants to attract different profiles of visitors and buyers. For
accommodation offers in Sv. Ivan Zelina and the surrounding area, wine recognitions create additional value because they open space for tastings, wine routes, gastronomic programs and arrivals motivated by a concrete enological experience.
From medals to wine tourism: what recognitions mean for the destination
International medals by themselves do not change a destination overnight, but they can significantly change the way the market perceives it. When the name of Sv. Ivan Zelina and Prigorje appears alongside Grand Gold at Sauvignon Selection by CMB, it creates a new level of credibility. Such recognition can help winemakers in placing wines, opening new distribution channels and strengthening reputation among restaurants, wine shops and specialized buyers. At the same time, it gives additional encouragement to the tourism sector because wine destinations today increasingly attract guests who want to connect tasting, local gastronomy, nature and cultural content.
Sv. Ivan Zelina already has the prerequisites for such development. The town is located near Zagreb, surrounded by vineyards and hilly landscape, and wine events, family wineries and a production tradition that can be transformed into a rounded tourist offer already exist. Success at an international competition can further motivate visitors to explore wineries that until now may have been known mainly to a narrower circle of wine connoisseurs. In that sense,
accommodation for visitors to wine events in Zelina becomes an important part of the broader story about the destination.
It is important, however, that wine recognitions are communicated precisely and responsibly. A medal is not just a marketing label on a bottle, but a result that should be explained through the origin of the wine, the work of the producer, the significance of the variety and the profile of the region. If the success is presented only as a short-lived sensation, the opportunity for long-term reputation building is missed. If, however, it is connected with a story about local terroir, family tradition, ecological production and modern enology, then it becomes the foundation for more serious positioning.
In this sense, the Zelina results from this year’s Sauvignon Selection fit into a broader trend. On the international scene, Croatia is increasingly presenting itself not only through coastal wines and the well-known varieties of the south, but also through continental white wines, sparkling wines, graševina, sauvignon, kraljevina and other styles that can be competitive on demanding markets. Bregovita Hrvatska, with Prigorje and Zelina as important points, has the opportunity to further emphasize its distinctiveness: proximity to urban centers, long tradition, diversity of small and medium-sized producers, and wines that can be compared with international standards.
Continuity of quality is becoming the most important message
The most important message of this year’s results is not only that one sauvignon won Grand Gold, but that quality is repeated through several wineries and several vintages. Puhelek Purek has already attracted attention earlier with sauvignon and other wines, Bedekovich has won gold at the same competition on several occasions, and Litterarii, with its silver award, shows that the Zelina scene has breadth. When such results are viewed together, an image is obtained of a region that is gradually building a recognizable style and reputation.
For producers, this also means greater responsibility. After international recognitions, market interest grows, but so do consumer expectations. It is necessary to maintain quality, clearly communicate differences among wines, invest in vineyards and cellars, and develop the experience that accompanies the bottle. Wines that win medals can attract attention, but long-term trust is built through consistency, availability, professional presentation and an authentic story.
With these results, Sv. Ivan Zelina has gained a strong argument in favor of its status as a top wine destination. Grand Gold for Puhelek Purek, gold for Bedekovich and silver for Litterarii are not only a list of awards, but confirmation that in the Zelina and Prigorje area sauvignon is developing into a variety with international reach. In the year in which Croatia hosted Sauvignon Selection by CMB for the first time, this very area used the stage to show that its winemakers can stand equally alongside producers from the world’s best-known sauvignon regions.
Sources:- Sauvignon Selection by Concours Mondial de Bruxelles – official information about the competition, evaluation method and 2026 results (link)- Sauvignon Selection by CMB – official competition results for 2026 (link)- missGASTRO / 24sata – report on Croatian medals at Sauvignon Selection by CMB in Varaždin and statements by awarded winemakers (link)- Varaždin-info – announcement and context of holding Sauvignon Selection by CMB in Varaždin from April 7 to 9, 2026 (link)- Puhelek Purek Winery – official information about the winery, family tradition and wine-growing identity (link)- Visit Zelina – data on the tradition of the Exhibition of Wines of Continental Croatia and the wine significance of Sv. Ivan Zelina (link)- Prigora / Vina Bedekovich – information about Bedekovich Sauvignon Springtime Premium Eko wine and the ecological wine offer (link)
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