About us

Inwrought by living nature, our vineyards interleave the hills of Plešivica. Time flies, generations alternate with the family, but the tradition of grape growing and wine production continues to provide indescribable joy among us. We return to nature constantly, and it returns to us with a magnificent variety, from vintage to vintage, rewarding us with the perfect wines.

Tradition
Three generations of Šember family are now active daily on the family farm in Donji Pavlovcani. Along with Zdenko, the visionary and main creator of our wines, his wife Ivanka, as his right hand, participates in all segments of winery buisness, promotion and tasting. Their son Nikola is graduate agronomist, and daughter Lucija (Wine Queen of the Zagreb County 2016-2018) and Klara are always present to assist in welcoming guests. Zdenko’s parents, Ružica and Stjepan, do not ease up in work in the vineyard - they convey experience and wisdom to younger generations that they have acquired for years of work in the vineyard.

These Plešivica hills have been catching a glimpse and taking breath away for hundred of years. We are here only to serve nature and offer you to enjoy the best of it.
Our vintage and wine are a reflection of what the year has been. And when the rain falls, and when the snow creaks, till heat plowes the ground, and the leaves rustles under their feet, the endless singing of vines, ladybugs, butterflies and birds echoes trough vineyards. Live nature, pure and unadulterated, crude and shining, like our wine, calm or sparkling, awakes the emotion of those who drink and recognize the inwrought love.

1991 was a special year for winery Šember. First release to the market under its own label. The circle of lovers of divine nectar has grown from day to day. Six years later, our first sparkling wine is produced by a classic method called MéthodeChampenoise. Two decades of the first label in 2011, our first amphora - Qvevri wine comes out. Impressive, graceful, Rajnski Riesling in its shine. We are preparing for you some more novelties that sleep in our cellars and wait for the first filling.
Wines Šember are located on reputable wine maps of the best Croatian restaurants.

Vineyards
The place where we spend most of our time. The place where wine really lives and is born.
We process 6 ha of vineyards of our own plantations spreading on the hilly terrains of Plešivićko-Okić kog vineyards. Pavel, Bresnica, Vučjak, Starjak, Mladina are the names of our vineyards facing south-southwest. They are dominated by alkaline, mulberry soil with a large amount of lime. Depending on the position, the age of vineyards varies from 10 to even 90 years. If we should define our approach to the vineyard, then we would say that it is integrated vineyard protection.

In the basement
We try to spend as little time in the basement. We let the wine mature in peace until it is ready to go out to the market.
For Chardonnay and Rajnski Riesling we use wooden barrels of French oak volume of 1500 - 3000 l, and for Pinot black 500 liters barrels.

The sparkling wine is made by the classic method of effervescence in the bottle, and it is matured in yeasts for at least 2 years, and we plan to go for a longer period of time. Depending on the vintage we produce about 25 000 bottles of champagne and 25 000 bottles of still wine.

In 2011, we filled our first amphora wine. Rhine Riesling from Qvevri (amphora) was made with the help of this unique Georgian traditional wine production method. The Qvevri, ie the clay pots - Amphora that has been traditionally made by thousands of old craftsmen in Georgia, have been buried in the ground in our yard.

In addition to Rhine Riesling, Pinot Noir has proved to be excellent in the amphora, so in our basement we are waiting for you to enjoy with us in this fascinating wine. Both wines are in small quantities from a limited series.

Vintage 2014 suggested that we also make a champagne from Rajnski Riesling in amphora. It will stay on sediment another year, as much as it needs to shine in full glory. We want to share another news with you. The next year we will cheer you with another sparkling wine. Sparkling wine Pavel, named after the place where our family lives, Donji Pavlovcani and St. Paul, whose church is next to the vineyards, will be on the market in 2018, and we made it from 90% Chardonnay and 10% Plavec Žuti, old Plešivica sort.