martinje on 11 November: baptising the must, roast goose and where to taste young wine
What the baptism of the must is, what to eat on St Martin's Day and where to check celebration dates in Zagorje, around Zagreb and in Istria.
Every year on 11 November, the feast of St Martin, north-western Croatia and much of the country's wine country celebrate Martinje (St Martin's Day). It's the day the new must is "baptised" into young wine, family wine cellars fill up, and the table gets the food people make once the harvest is in. This year Martinje falls on a Wednesday, so if you're planning an autumn weekend in Zagorje, the hills around Zagreb or Istria, here's what to expect and where to check dates.
what's being celebrated
St Martin is the patron saint of wine and winegrowers. In the old folk calendar his feast marked the line between the working season in fields and vineyards and the start of winter. By then the must has mostly finished fermenting, so it's the first proper tasting of the year's young wine.
The heart of the day is krštenje mošta (the baptism of the must), a tongue-in-cheek ceremony that mimics a church rite, complete with blessings, mock litanies and plenty of toasts. Ethnologists describe it as strongest in north-western Croatia, especially Hrvatsko zagorje. In Kumrovec, for example, a godfather and godmother of the new wine are chosen every year. Further south, quieter customs were recorded: on the island of Brač men visited each other to taste the new wine, and on Šolta villagers gathered around it together.
what to eat
The classic Martinje dish is guska s mlincima, roast goose with *mlinci* (thin baked flatbread soaked in the roasting juices), already described in old accounts from the Samobor area. Today's celebrations usually lay out more. The Sveti Ivan Zelina tourist board, for instance, lists fresh cheese with cream, *čvarci* (pork cracklings), roast pork with potatoes and a cheese-and-apple strudel alongside local Zelina wines. In Istria, Martinje is celebrated with local malvazija (white) and teran (red) in cellars and *konobe* (traditional taverns).
where to celebrate
There are organised celebrations across continental Croatia and Istria, from small village gatherings to bigger programmes:
| Place | What we know | 2026 date |
|---|---|---|
| Sveti Ivan Zelina | the tourist board's main celebration: must baptism, entertainment, Zelina wines | check visitzelina.hr |
| Kumrovec | "Martinje v Kumrovcu": must baptism, choosing the wine's godparents, co-organised by the Staro selo open-air museum | November, exact date on kumrovec.hr |
| Istria | young-wine celebrations in towns and villages through November | istra.hr |
Some places celebrate on 11 November itself, others on a weekend around it. At the time of writing, the official Zelina and Kumrovec pages hadn't yet published their 2026 programmes.
tips
- Check the date on the tourist board or organiser's page a week or two before you travel.
- Sort out transport in advance. There's a lot of wine tasting on Martinje, and cellars are often up in the hills outside town. Pick a designated driver or stay within walking distance.
- Bring warm clothes and shoes that can handle mud. November in the vineyards can be cold and damp.
- Ask your host about smaller local celebrations in the village.
- Book a table if you want goose with mlinci at a restaurant on the day itself.