Kastela: Wine & Olive Tasting Tour w/Delicacies & Live Music

The best part of this Kaštela experience is its hands-on character. You do not simply sit at a table while someone pours wine. You walk through a working organic family farm, learn how grapes and olives become finished products, then fill, cork, and label a bottle of wine straight from the fermentation tank. Kathrin leads the visit with clear enthusiasm, and the farm’s views toward Kaštela Bay and Split give the afternoon a fine sense of place.

I like the small group of no more than six, which gives the visit a personal feel, and I like the food: Pag cheese, wood-fired peka bread, sea-salted fish, figs, almonds, and several house-made olive oils. The main drawback is the price, $173 per person, which is a serious outlay for a three-and-a-half-hour activity. It makes the most sense if you value a private-feeling farm visit, a full tasting meal, and direct contact with the producer.

Key points at a glance

• Bottle-making is part of the visit: Fill, cork, and label your own bottle of award-winning wine from the fermentation tank.
• A real working farm: Walk through organic vineyards, olive trees, almond trees, and patches of wild herbs.
• Kathrin is central to the experience: Her personal welcome, practical explanations, and accordion performance shape the afternoon.
• The food is more than a token snack: Expect prosciutto, Pag cheese, peka bread, fish, olives, peppers, tomatoes, figs, and almonds.
• A small-group setting: The group is limited to six people, useful for questions and a relaxed meal.
• Convenient from Trogir or the airport: Pickup is offered from Trogir City Beach and Split Airport, or you can drive to the estate in Kaštel Novi.

A farm visit with something to do

Many wine tours follow a familiar pattern: admire the view, hear a short explanation, taste three glasses, and leave. This one adds useful work with your hands. At the cellar, you take part in filling, corking, and labeling a bottle of wine from the fermentation tanks. That small task changes the mood. You are not just sampling a finished drink. You are seeing one point in the process and taking home a bottle connected to the place.

The estate is in Bijaći, an area the host presents as an important cradle of Croatian history dating to the seventh century. The tour links that setting with the agricultural work carried out there today. You hear about the yearly cycle from early spring through late fall, including the care of vines, olive trees, and almond trees and the steps needed to turn their fruit into wine and extra virgin olive oil.

I find that useful because it gives the tasting context. The white and red wines are not isolated products. They come after months of pruning, tending, harvesting, fermentation, and cellar work. The same applies to the oils, which you taste plain and infused with wild herbs.

Walking among olives, almonds, vines, and herbs

The outdoor portion begins with an agricultural walk through the farm. Depending on the season, you might see almond trees blooming, olives and almonds ripening, or vineyards at another stage of their annual cycle. The setting is not a formal botanical garden. It is a working family property, and that is part of its appeal.

The walk also brings you close to the local plant life. You may smell or identify thyme, rosemary, oregano, dill, bay leaves, St. John’s Wort, wild asparagus, and other wild flowers. Picking and identifying wild herbs is included, so this section has a hands-on element beyond simply looking at rows of trees.

Wear comfortable shoes. The tour includes walking through orchards and vineyards, and the estate sits up the hill from the main road. Weather-appropriate clothing is also sensible because part of the experience takes place outdoors under the pergola and along the farm paths.

The farm views add a pleasant reward. From the property, you can look toward Kaštela Bay and Split while sitting among olive and almond trees. This is a calmer setting than the coast’s town centers, though you should choose this tour for the farm experience rather than expect a long sightseeing program focused on Split or Trogir.

What happens in the wine cellar

After the farm walk, the tour moves into the wine cellar. Here, Kathrin explains how the wine-making process works and how homemade schnapps and liquors are distilled. You can taste from a choice of those house-made spirits before moving on to the wines.

The cellar visit is especially useful if you are curious about production rather than only drinking. You learn about fermentation and cellar techniques, then see how the finished wine relates to the tank. The bottle-filling activity gives the explanation a practical finish. You fill a bottle, cork it, and apply its label yourself.

The bottle is one of the tour’s strongest details. Plenty of tastings send you home with pleasant memories, but this gives you a physical reminder of the visit. It also helps justify some of the cost, particularly for anyone who likes food-and-drink experiences with a craft element.

The description identifies the wines as award-winning, with both white and red varieties served during the meal. It does not specify the grapes, vintages, or exact number of wines, so you should not book this expecting a formal sommelier tasting with a technical flight. The emphasis is on the farm’s own production and the story behind it.

A Dalmatian table under the pergola

The meal takes place outside under a pergola beside the olive and almond orchards. The food is served as a spread of local products, and the setting makes it feel more like a family table than a standard tasting counter.

You can expect:

• Locally dried prosciutto
• Aged cheese from the island of Pag
• Peka bread baked under a wood fire
• Locally sea-salted fish fillets
• Traditional black olives
• Small bell peppers filled with cheese
• Cherry tomatoes
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Wild herb-infused olive oil
• Organic hand-picked dried figs
• Hand-picked dried almonds coated with sugar
• Water
• House white and red wine

The menu matters because it shows how the wine is used with food. Salty fish, cured meat, aged cheese, olives, bread, and sweet dried fruit provide different matches for the two wines and the oils. This is not a meal built around one dramatic dish. Its pleasure comes from variety and from tasting ingredients tied to Dalmatian food traditions.

Peka bread baked under wood fire is a particularly appealing touch. The supplied details do not say that you watch it being baked during the tour, so think of it as a prepared part of the meal rather than a cooking demonstration. Likewise, the menu is specified, but seasonal variation is always possible with farm products. The core tasting is clear, while the exact condition of fruit, herbs, or other produce may depend on the time of year.

If you do not drink alcohol, this may not be your ideal activity. Wine and schnapps are central to the visit, even though water is included. Dietary substitutions are not stated, so ask the provider before booking if you have allergies or follow a restricted diet.

Kathrin’s music and traditional dress

The meal includes live accordion music. Kathrin plays and sings traditional Dalmatian songs while dressed in traditional local folklore clothing. This is a direct, personal performance rather than background music from a speaker.

That element can go in two directions depending on your taste. If you want a cultural welcome with music, it gives the meal a distinctly local character. If you prefer a quiet, strictly agricultural tour, the singing and folklore dress may feel more theatrical than the farm walk and cellar work. The useful point is that the music is part of the planned experience, not an accidental extra.

The host is a major reason to consider this tour. Kathrin’s role covers the farm, cellar, food service, and music, so the afternoon has a strong personal stamp. The praise for her focuses on her time, warmth, passion, and ability to explain things while keeping the occasion entertaining. That makes this a good choice if you value meeting the producer and hearing the story in person.

Languages offered are English, German, French, and Croatian. That broad choice is helpful for mixed-language groups, though the maximum group size remains six, so the atmosphere should stay conversational.

Is $173 a fair price?

At $173 per person, this is not a budget tasting. You are paying for about 210 minutes, transportation from selected pickup points if needed, a guided farm and cellar visit, the hands-on bottle activity, a full spread of Dalmatian delicacies, wine, schnapps or liqueur tasting, live music, and a small group.

The value depends on what you would otherwise book. If you only want two or three small wine samples, the price is high. If you want a simple restaurant lunch, it is also more than you would spend. But if you would pay separately for a vineyard tour, olive oil tasting, local meal, cultural performance, and a small souvenir bottle, the package becomes easier to defend.

Pickup adds practical value. From Trogir, the drive to the estate takes about 10 minutes. The meeting point is Bistro Baketina at Trogir City Beach, in the T4 parking lot. It is about a five-minute walk along the seafront from Trogir Bus Terminal.

At Split Airport, pickup is at the bus station on the main road. The directions are specific because the meeting point is outside the airport building. You look toward the airport with the sea behind you and to your right, then locate the glass-covered overpass leading from the parking and rental-car area into the terminal. Read the instructions carefully so you are not waiting at the wrong bus stop.

You can also meet Kathrin directly at the estate, Put Bijaća 38, Kaštel Novi, if you have your own car. The driving directions include several turns onto Put Vlaka and Put Bijaća, so save the instructions before setting out.

Who will enjoy this most?

I would choose this for adults who like food, regional wine, small farms, and personal hosting. It suits couples, friends, and small groups who want a slower afternoon away from the main coastal sights. The hands-on bottle activity is a good fit for anyone who enjoys making a souvenir rather than simply buying one.

It is also well suited to people who want to understand olive oil production. You walk through the orchard, hear how the trees are cared for, and taste both extra virgin and wild herb-infused oils. That is more useful than a quick oil sample with no explanation of how the product is made.

The tour is not suitable for children under 18, and it is not recommended for people over 95. Comfortable walking shoes are required in practice, since the experience includes outdoor paths and orchard walking.

You should also allow the full three and a half hours. Pickup and driving time are separate considerations, especially if you are fitting this between airport arrival, a ferry, or a scheduled visit in Trogir. The stated activity duration is 210 minutes.

How this compares with a standard tasting

A standard tasting is often efficient. You arrive, hear a short introduction, and move directly to the glasses. This Kaštela tour takes a wider view. It connects the trees, herbs, vineyard, cellar, food, music, and local setting.

That wider approach is its strength, but it also means less time for detailed wine analysis. The focus is not on a long list of varietals or a technical lesson in wine chemistry. You are getting a family farm story and a broad Dalmatian food experience.

The scale helps. With a limit of six people, you can ask about pruning, fermentation, herbs, or the oils without waiting behind a large tour group. A small group also makes the shared meal and accordion performance feel more direct. If the group is full, the experience will still be intimate by normal tour standards, but it will not be a private visit.

The five available ratings are all five out of five, with particular emphasis on Kathrin’s hospitality, the quality and presentation of the food, and the personal feel of the farm. I would treat that as a strong sign of a consistent host-led experience, while remembering that the sample is small and the price remains a real consideration.

Booking details worth knowing

You can cancel up to 24 hours before the activity for a full refund, and the reserve-now, pay-later option keeps your plans flexible. Starting times depend on availability.

Organic farm products can be purchased on site. That may be useful if you enjoy the oils, wine, figs, almonds, or other products served at the table and want to take some home. The information does not specify prices, packaging, or shipping, so ask about those details during the visit.

The tour is available with live guidance in English, German, French, or Croatian. Pickup is included from Trogir and Split Airport, while people driving themselves can meet at the estate.

Should you book the Family Farm Strizic tour?

Book it if you want a personal half-day built around a real family farm, not just a quick tasting. The strongest reasons are the six-person limit, Kathrin’s hands-on hosting, the chance to bottle your own wine, the generous Dalmatian food spread, and the mix of agriculture, local tradition, and music.

Skip it if $173 feels too high for a food-and-wine afternoon, if you want a serious technical wine seminar, or if you prefer a quiet meal without a live performance. For the right audience, though, this is one of the more personal ways to connect a visit to the Kaštela area with the products grown and made there.

FAQ

Where does the tour take place?

The experience takes place at Family Farm Strizic, Put Bijaća 38, 21217 Kaštel Novi, Croatia.

Is pickup available from Trogir?

Yes. Pickup is at Bistro Baketina on Trogir City Beach in the T4 parking lot. The meeting point is about a five-minute walk along the seaside from Trogir Bus Terminal, and the drive to the estate takes about 10 minutes.

Can I be picked up at Split Airport?

Yes. Pickup is at the bus station on the main road outside Split Airport, in the direction of Split. The supplied directions identify the glass-covered overpass near the airport parking and rental-car area as a landmark.

How long does the experience last?

The tour lasts 210 minutes, or about three hours and 30 minutes.

What languages are available?

The live guide is available in English, German, French, and Croatian.

Can I make my own bottle of wine?

Yes. You can fill, cork, and label a bottle of wine directly from the fermentation tanks.

Is food included?

Yes. The tasting includes prosciutto, Pag cheese, peka bread, sea-salted fish fillets, black olives, cheese-filled peppers, cherry tomatoes, dried figs, sugar-coated almonds, and extra virgin and wild herb-infused olive oils. White and red wine and water are also included.

Is the tour suitable for children?

No. The experience is not suitable for children under 18. Comfortable shoes and weather-appropriate clothing are recommended.