Agroturizam San Mauro

We had a fantastic afternoon where we did a wine tasting at the San Mauro estate, where Sergej really took the time to explain the wines and the history of his (family) estate. The wines are delicious - especially the barrique Malvazija - and the surroundings of San Mauro, visible from the outdoor terrace, are beautiful. We bought a few wines which are very reasonably priced, many of them are sold for 60 kn a bottle. Would highly recommend: if we are ever in the neighborhood again, we will definitely pay them another visit

Excellent wine, excellent food and generally everything was excellent!!! I highly recommend it.

Come here for a meal, or better yet, stay for a few days (at a minimum). Fantastic place to experience the Istria wine and truffle region of Croatia. Owned by the Sinkovic family, be prepared for wine and homemade meals that delight, and as personalized service as you so request - reach out to them directly and they will support your experience better. They are a small family-run estate, so do the courtesy of making a reservation for the best experience and opportunity for planning. I have had the honor of staying at the San Mauro estate twice now - once as a romantic retreat with my husband some years ago (when we decided we HAD to return some day), and second time most recently (Sept 2019), with our two children and extended family. It is worth noting that this is a big trip for us from the U.S. and worth it. It is a very intimate experience with beautiful views, a historic church on site, personal service from the Sinkovic family, incredible small-batch wines, and an on-site restaurant serving homemade Istrian food (think homemade pasta with shaved truffles, flavorful meats, exquisite desserts, and muscat wines). The rooms are not luxury (ex: no A/C or laundry), but are very clean and includes small kitchenettes if you want to bring some basic foods with you. The stay is comfortable and affordable, and includes a lovely breakfast in the morning in their restaurant or balcony. They even provided us an in-room breakfast take-away option when we had to leave incredibly early on our last day. Lastly, we asked for support with the Sinkovic family (Sergej and his brother are fantastic and both speak English, Croatian, Italian, and German) to organize some activities for our group and they really outdid themselves, with very little direction from us. They coordinated multiple wine tastings and meals at nearby villages and wineries, bikes for cycling through the wine country, and hosted a ceremony and party for our group with gorgeous flowers, appetizers, drinks, and a 6-course meal following the ceremony. Flowing wine, incredible conversations, and food that will not be forgotten.

Being where it is, is quite the advantage and the disadvantage of this place. This meaning it's on a stunning hill with great surroundings but quite far off the touristic routes. Anyways, we started off with a good bottle of homemade White Dry Muskat wine (that I'd recommend because it goes really well with truffles, that accompany basically all the dishes there, even desserts) and some bruschetta with truffle cream on it, which was a really good starter. We then got some fuzi (Istrian kind of pasta shape) with truffles and ravioli with cheese and truffle cream, both really good to the taste, soft and with a good taste of truffles. Consequently we ordered an ox fillet with rucola and cheese flakes, and a cow steak with truffles and some grilled vegetables as side dish. Would definitely recommend what the waiter recommended to us. At last I alone got a weird but pleasant dessert: a potato gnocco filled with chocolate, cream and chocolate on top as well and sprinkled with truffle dust. As I said, weird but really pleasant. In any case, this place is worth a visit (I'd recommend you to call in advance at least one day to get a spot there since there aren't many seats). The only thing that didn't make me give 5 ⭐ was the waiting time, that unfortunately was kind of too long. I would like the Agritourism to use these advices: when the guest comes, first thing you should do is go to them as soon as they are seated and ask if in the meantime they want something to drink and propose the dishes of the day. After all, you were all really kind and funny, keep going like this, and improve on service, you can become great!

Great hosts and really enjoyable place with fantastic food.