Ivan Kosovec

Kosovec is located in the small rural town of Popovača in one of the smallest Croatian wine regions called Moslavina, in central continental Croatia, about 50 kilometers southeast from the capital, Zagreb.

Ivan started in the winemaking business when he was just 18 years old, in 2003. He went into oenology school in Istria and that same year, with the support of his family, he bought 4 hectares of pristine land. After some clearing and deforesting in 2005, he planted 3 hectares of vineyards with a total of 18,000 vines in one of the finest sites in the Moslavina region.

Grape varieties include Škrlet, an autochthon white variety only grown in Moslavina. There is less than 100 hectares planted in the entire world. Other varieties are Chardonnay, Zweigelt, Frankovka and Pinot noir.

Their philosophy of viticulture is based on a maximum natural approach – so they farm their vineyards organically, encourage small yields with the use of only minimum quantities of copper and sulfur for fungus protection, without the use of any synthetic pesticides, herbicides, or insecticides and a lot of manual work. They do not use any kind of mineral or foliar fertilizers – only organic fertilizers, humus, and green manuring when possible.

The winemaking is based exclusively on the natural quality of the grapes with respect to the terroir and vintage. There is little to no intervention with the grapes, must, or wine – no added yeasts, enzymes or any other enological additives or preparations. No fining, filtering, and the use of sulfur is down to a minimum.

With this kind of philosophy and approach, they want to make true, live, and terroir-driven wines which showcase the specific and unique characteristics of Moslavina’s geography, variety, and climate.