Restaurants

Sometimes it’s those little places you stumble upon that make all the difference on a journey.  And for me, one of those places was definitely the Ancora Wine Bar in Cavtat, Croatia.

It’s funny – I’ve noticed that the smaller and more remote a place is, the more likely businesses have some type of duality.  Hotels offer gyms or spas on a separate basis.  Restaurants have some type of attached bar or show.  I’ve even seen a small pension/laundrymat combination.  And in Cavtat, at least, the wine bar is the place to find reliable Internet.  And thank goodness it did or I might have just walked on by.

It may surprise some to learn that Croatia has a thriving wine industry. It certainly surprised me. But perhaps that is because my first introduction to an Eastern European vintage came served with a Coca-Cola chaser.  And good thing, too.  I drank the offered glass but I probably did so with quite a grimace. There are some quaffs that simply do not deserve to be called wine.

But Croatian wines are excellent and becoming more and more well known across the globe — and with glasses priced at about $1 US, Ancora Wine Bar is the perfect place to introduce yourself to the many varieties and find your favorite.  It’s true that you might have trouble picking a bottle at first — Hrvatski isn’t necessarily the easiest language to understand.  But Ancora’s knowledgeable staff is more than happy to help you understand the somewhat indecipherable labels and choose the right bottle for you.

Located right on Cavtat harbor, its tables stretched into outdoor cafe seating, it’s hard to find a more idyllic spot.  Once discovered, my family spent many an evening at Ancora.  In fact, we may have spent every evening of our week-long stay in Cavtat there.  We’d pick a bottle of local wine, order the cheese plate and then just relax and watch the boats come in.  You can’t beat it.

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Ancora Wine Bar
Cavtat Harbor
20210 Cavtat
Croatia