Slavonia and Srijem pick from dawn as heat thins the juice
SiB.hr finds Slavonian and Srijem crews starting at 06:00 for €7/h (up from €6). Krauthaker runs ~50 pickers on ~50 ha; TRS Ilok expects about 30% less must after heat and drought — quality still holding.
In eastern Croatia the harvest clock now starts before the thermometer climbs.
SiB.hr reports pickers across Slavonia and Srijem working from about 06:00 to 14:00, with hourly pay lifted from €6 to €7. At Krauthaker near Kutjevo, harvest began 17 August: roughly 50 pickers on about 50 hectares, taking in 50–70 tonnes a day including co-op fruit, and Sunday shifts to catch sugar before acids fall further.
At Perak, machine plus hand crews race the same curve — sugars high, acids sliding once midday passes 30°C. TRS Ilok, a co-op of 16 holdings on about 60 ha, is pulling around 31.5 tonnes a day and still expects roughly 30% less grape must: heat and drought left less juice in the berry even when clusters look full.
Mini-concept: drought can cut volume without killing quality. Smaller berries concentrate sugar and flavour; the trade-off is less hectolitres in the press — exactly the Ilok co-op warning.
For drinkers the lesson is simple. A hot Pannonian vintage may pour less, but the glass can still be clean if crews beat the afternoon heat.
Remember: Slavonia/Srijem pick from 06:00 at €7/h; Ilok co-op eyes ~30% less must after heat and drought.
Source: SiB.hr