Dalmatian Heritage and Early Harvest Precision Drive an Award-Winning Brand

Summary

Sebastijan Adžić, an olive grower in Pakoštane, is deeply con­nected to the region’s his­tory and tra­di­tion of olive oil pro­duc­tion, with his groves serv­ing as a liv­ing reminder of the area’s past as one of the largest olive groves on the east­ern Adriatic coast. He focuses on pro­duc­ing high-qual­ity extra vir­gin olive oil using local cul­ti­vars and tra­di­tional tech­niques, empha­siz­ing the impor­tance of Pakoštane’s micro­cli­mate and a quick har­vest-to-mill process to pre­serve the oil’s fresh­ness and aro­matic pro­file.

Sebastijan Adžić, an olive grower in Pakoštane, said his work is rooted in the land­scape of Dalmatian stone, salt and sea, where his fam­ily home sits on the remains of a Roman Villa Rustica and the ruins of an ancient port lie just off­shore.

Adžić said the area’s long rela­tion­ship with olive oil still feels tan­gi­ble. While div­ing in the Adriatic, he said he has found amphorae and rit­ual ceramic oil lamps dat­ing back about 2,000 years, dis­cov­er­ies that deepen his sense of respon­si­bil­ity to carry for­ward a tra­di­tion rather than rein­vent it.

He added that the hin­ter­land around Pakoštane once sup­ported one of the largest olive groves on the east­ern Adriatic coast. Today, he describes his groves as a liv­ing reminder of that era and part of a broader revival of Croatia’s mod­ern olive sec­tor.

Adžić’s NYIOOC award-win­ning brand, Leut, takes its name from the tra­di­tional wooden boat used along the coast. He said the name reflects endurance at sea, mir­ror­ing the resilience he asso­ciates with olive trees grow­ing on karst lime­stone.

His pro­duc­tion focuses on extra vir­gin olive oil made pri­mar­ily from local Oblica and Levantinka, blended with cul­ti­vars includ­ing Frantoio, Coratina and Picholine. Adžić said the approach com­bines local iden­tity with tech­niques refined through expe­ri­ence in olive farm­ing.

Adžić attrib­uted the oils’ char­ac­ter to Pakoštane’s micro­cli­mate—strong sun­light, qual­ity soils, fresh spring water and shift­ing winds between the sea and nearby Lake Vrana. He said an early har­vest and care­ful hand-pick­ing of healthy fruit are cen­tral to the results.

To pro­tect fresh­ness, he empha­sized min­i­miz­ing the time between har­vest and milling, say­ing each minute mat­ters for pre­serv­ing the aro­matic pro­file of Dalmatian herbs and main­tain­ing nat­u­rally occur­ring polyphe­nols.

Alongside pro­duc­tion, Adžić’s fam­ily also works in hos­pi­tal­ity and uses tast­ings to con­nect vis­i­tors with the place where the story began. He said serv­ing the oil at the table — often steps from the shore­line — helps link tourism with local agri­cul­tural her­itage.

Adžić said his recent Gold Award in New York rec­og­nized not only his work but his family’s shared effort. He described the honor at the NYIOOC World com­pe­ti­tion as con­fir­ma­tion that Pakoštane can still pro­duce olive oils wor­thy of its ancient rep­u­ta­tion.