Dingač wine and Postup: two Plavac Mali vineyards on Pelješac
Dingač is the name of an area of steep slopes on the southern coast of Pelješac in Croatia and of the red wine made there from Plavac Mali. The name is an EU protected designation of origin (PDO) for wine. Postup is a second named vineyard area; on 19 October 2026 it had no EU register entry of its own.
Two names, two different things
Dingač is the name of the slopes and of the wine made on them. It is listed in the EU register eAmbrosia as a protected designation of origin (PDO) for wine, under file number PDO-HR-A1649, and only Plavac Mali may be used.
Postup is a named vineyard area. Annex III of the viticulture regulation (Narodne novine 81/2022) lists it, like Dingač, among the potential historical vineyard sites of the Pelješac wine district. It has no EU protected designation of its own: on 19 October 2026 its name was not in eAmbrosia, and of the two names only Dingač is on the Croatian Ministry of Agriculture’s list of wine PDOs at EU level.
From 1961 to the EU register
According to the specification, the name Dingač had been misused for centuries through unfair competition, so growers from Potomje asked for the name and origin of the wine to be protected. Order no. 1252/2 of 19 September 1961, based on the Yugoslav wine law of 1957, protected it. According to the 1964 study “Dingač: čuveno dalmatinsko vino” by A. Gazzari and K. Pešut-Gligo, the order took effect on 1 February 1962. The specification dates international protection of the name and mark through BIRPI in Geneva from 13 May 1964, under certificate no. 283600. The Croatian Chamber of Economy (HGK) calls Dingač the first Croatian wine protected by law.
The 2004 list of geographical indications (Narodne novine 6/2004) names both Dingač and Postup in the Pelješac wine district. The 2007 list of traditional expressions for wine includes Dingač as one of six wines, alongside Prošek and Bermet, and defines it as a red vrhunsko vino (premium wine) with controlled geographical origin. The 2010 regulation on protected designations of origin entered Dingač in its Annex 1 as number 16 and took effect on Croatia’s accession to the EU. Dingač has been in the EU register since 1 July 2013, transmitted as an existing designation.
Where Dingač and Postup are
Dingač is a strip of steep slopes on the southern coast of central Pelješac, from Trstenik to the Jelin dol valley. The specification gives a length of 8,070 m, a width of 552 to 1,386 m and a total area of 7.58 km² (758 ha), of which 78.5 ha are planted. The slope faces southwest, at a gradient of 10° to 60° and 30° on average, framed by the peaks of Čučin and Sveti Juraj. The village of Potomje lies inland, at 320 m above sea level. According to the Orebić tourist board, the Dingač tunnel, only about 400 m long, cut the journey for growers and winemakers from almost 20 kilometres to four. Before it, the only road went via Trstenik and grapes were carried on donkeys and mules. The same source says the Split firm Konstruktor cut the tunnel in nine months. The vineyard owners paid for it through their cooperative, which held the loan. It was formally opened on Saturday 29 November 1975 (the tourist board’s 50th-anniversary article of November 2025 and Croatia Week).
The Postup vineyards begin almost at the entrance to Orebić and, according to the Orebić tourist board, cover more than 60 hectares on both sides of the road. You will find the two sites in the Potomje and Postup–Orebić areas.
How Postup was protected
According to the Orebić tourist board, Postup received the epithet “čuveno vino” (famous wine) in 1967, on the basis of a study of its controlled geographical origin, and became the second protected wine in Croatia, after Dingač. In 2022 the daily Slobodna Dalmacija described how two cooperatives, one in Potomje and one in Donja Banda, both claimed the protection at the time. The area was finally divided on paper and the wine came onto the market under two labels, Postup Potomje and Postup Donja Banda. According to the same article, growers had founded the Donja Banda cooperative in 1957.
Soil, sun and sea
According to the Dingač specification, the slopes and the ridge above them are Upper Cretaceous limestone with dolomite. The soil formed on gravelly scree washed down the slopes and is skeletal, about 75% gravel and small stones. The remaining quarter is reddish-brown fine earth, on average 40% sand, 30% silt and 30% clay. Analyses quoted in the specification found more than 50 mg of potassium (K₂O) per 100 g of soil in every sample, and the specification names this high potassium content as the main factor behind the quality of the wine.
A double mountain ridge shelters the slopes from cold north winds, and the deep sea right below the vineyards warms the air in winter and moderates its temperature in summer. The specification gives a mean annual temperature of 17.6 °C and a growing-season mean of 20.1 °C, from the weather station at Orebić. Rainfall is about 1,400 mm a year, most of it in late autumn and winter and least in summer, with drought in some years. There are no early autumn or late spring frosts, and the sun shines for 2,900 hours a year. The 2008 spatial plan of Orebić counts Dingač and Postup among the warmer parts of the municipality. Plavac Mali ripens unevenly, so ripe and dried berries hang on the same bunch, and according to the specification the dried ones give the wine a special aroma.
Work on the terraces
The terraces, the specification says, were made over centuries of hard manual work: people cleared the scree, built the larger stones into dry-stone walls and partly levelled the slopes to protect them from erosion. The Orebić spatial plan describes vineyard terraces alternating with woodland, maquis and bare rock on the slopes of Postup and Dingač. Terrace walls must be built from the original stone of the slopes, and no soil may be brought in from other areas. The vines are trained low, as bush vines 30 to 50 cm high without wires. In old vineyards the vines stand 1 m by 1 m apart, about 10,000 per hectare. A hoe is rarely used today: small motor cultivators do the work, held with a rope on the steepest ground.
Named sites within Dingač
The 2017 list of geographical indications (Narodne novine 64/2017) divides Dingač into 16 smaller named sites, among them Barov laz, Borak, Klapovac and Živa voda. Postup stands on its own in the same list, at the same level as Dingač. Under the specification, a smaller site may be named on a Dingač label when at least 85% of the grapes come from it. The name must appear in letters no more than half the size of the word Dingač. The viticulture regulation adds that the site must be entered in the Vineyard Register.
Reputation and prices
According to the specification, Dingač was already well known in the 15th century, when it sold for three to four times the price of other wines from the area. The specification also gives prices per hectolitre from traders on Pelješac: in 1900 Dingač cost 7 forints against 2 for the wine called Plavac, and in 1960 it cost 25,000 dinars against 7,400. The 1964 study “Dingač: čuveno dalmatinsko vino” followed these wines for six years.
The same study says Dingač produced 20 to 25 wagons of wine before phylloxera and fewer than ten after the vineyards were replanted.
Rules for a wine labelled Dingač
| Rule | Specification |
|---|---|
| Grape variety | Plavac Mali only |
| Planting density | up to 10,000 vines per hectare |
| Maximum yield | 8,000 kg of grapes per hectare, or 4,800 litres of wine |
| Must sugar content | at least 19.5% on the Babo scale, with at least 4.0 g/l total acidity |
| Natural alcoholic strength | at least 13.5% vol. |
| Klasiko | at least 12 months of ageing (9 in a wooden barrel, 3 in the bottle) |
| Riserva | at least 24 months (18 in the barrel, 6 in the bottle) |
| Bottling | close to the area, in the municipalities of Orebić and Trpanj |
| Bottles | dark green or brown glass only, from 0.375 to 18 l |
| Approval | chemical and sensory testing, a median score of at least 82 points out of 100 from five tasters; at least three must confirm the wine is typical |
What Dingač and Postup wines taste like
The specification describes Dingač as a dark ruby red wine. Mature, barrel-aged wine smells of dried plums and figs. Young wines are intense and tannic, and the tannins soften with age. Dingač is usually dry; when the grape sugar does not ferment out completely, the specification also allows a semi-dry wine. It usually has more than 30 g/l of extract and up to 14 g/l of glycerol. The Orebić tourist board describes Postup as deep, dark ruby in colour, warm and dense, with aromas of black fruit and pronounced tannins. According to the county tourist board, both wines are dark red, high in tannin and alcohol.
More about the grape on the Plavac Mali page.
Where to taste Dingač and Postup
According to their own websites, these producers offer wine from one or both areas. Arrange a visit with them directly before you go.
- Madirazza, Potomje: Dingač and Postup.
- Bura, Potomje: Dingač.
- Matuško, Potomje: Dingač; its website has a form for booking a tasting.
- Dingač Skaramuča, Pijavičino: Dingač and Postup.
- Mikulić, Mokalo (according to the Orebić tourist board): A Postup called Don Josip.
Medals for Dingač and Postup wines in the competition results: Pelješac wine awards. Our picks among Pelješac wines are on the page Pelješac wine.
Who makes Dingač: nine wineries and their wines
According to the county tourist board, Vinarija Dingač (DINGAČ, poljoprivredna zadruga i vinarija), the largest agricultural cooperative on Pelješac, founded in 1902, is also based in Potomje.
The five wine areas of Pelješac and the profiles of all 41 wineries with their addresses are in the book. The e-book is one of our Croatian gift ideas for wine lovers.
Frequently asked questions
- What kind of wine is Dingač?
- A red wine made only from Plavac Mali on the Dingač slopes of Pelješac, usually dry. Since 1 July 2013 it has been an EU protected designation of origin.
- Is Dingač a grape variety?
- No. Dingač and Postup are places on Pelješac; the grape is Plavac Mali.
- Where is the Dingač wine region?
- On the southern coast of central Pelješac, on the steep slopes between Trstenik and the Jelin dol valley.
- Is Postup a protected designation of origin like Dingač?
- No. Dingač has been in the EU register since 1 July 2013 (PDO-HR-A1649). On 19 October 2026 the name Postup was not in eAmbrosia; it is a named vineyard area in the Pelješac wine district.
- What does Dingač taste like?
- According to the specification it is dark ruby red; mature, barrel-aged wine smells of dried plums and figs, and young wines are intense and tannic.
- How big is Dingač?
- The protected area covers 758 ha, of which 78.5 ha are planted, according to the specification.
- Where can I buy Dingač or Postup, and what does it cost?
- Ask the producers directly about prices, sales and tastings. Our winery directory lists wineries on Pelješac, with a link to each winery's website where it has one.
