PP Orahovica has been on an upward path for a while new in terms of quality, which brings a higher audience interest and better sales. Over two years ago they first thrilled me with a Green Silvanac and added to it a story of the Jezerce label and turn some heads. Announcements became more bold, as well as our expectations. It was known they were preparing some excellent wines.
It should be noted that PP Orahovica made two excellent moves. They brought in Igor Huškar as advisor for sales and promotion and placed the cellars in control of the well proven enologist Ivana Nemet. These are surely key strokes, as I’ve written of the potential and knowledge of Ivana Nemet while she was starting out in another Slavonian winery. Ivana is an exceptionally consistent person in her job and does it with passion, which is imperative. Likewise, she won’t succumb to the sales story and if the wine is not ready to market, she won’t let it. All she needed was a winery that can follow that. Igor Hruškar – nothing more to be said there – when you mention that name in the wine world, all is known; an undisputed authority.
A kind of premiere of this new Orahovica took place in Dobra Vina. Their excellent wines were combined with food by Damir Horvat – successfully.
The idea of the promotion is the combination of wines with home-style food. So we were given štrukli with cheese along with superior Chardonnay and I can say – quite good. The wine itself was a surprise of the day. Wonderful wine, not too heavy, yet powerful enough not to be forgotten. In any case, a label I wish was in my home wine cabinet.
The main topic of the day was the Frankovka; a sort slightly neglected over here. When offered Frankovka, people turn their eyes in the sense of “isn’t there anything better”, while a well-made Frankovka gives excellent results. We knew Ivana can make an excellent Frankovka from her previous work and this superior one from Orahovica swept me off my feet.
We were given two Franovka’s – a quality and a superior, while the table was filled with krvavica sausages, pig hock, stewed cabbage and of course, potatoes, while the other plate had a turkey with pastry. Real autumn food that follows PP Orahovica wines quite well. The Dobra Vina tem demonstrated knowledge and sensibility for making an excellent eno-gastro story. Krvavica and pig hock went along better with the quality Frankovka as it has more pronounced acids than the superior one so it went better with fatty food. The turkey was a different story, although I was missing some honey, added over turkey while roasting or sautéed chestnuts as a side dish (sautéed, naturally on honey and reduced Frankovka). It was amiss as the superior Frankovka is genial; Frankovka at its best – mild, powerful, honey, drinkable, full of taste, a true blessing for the palate and it can be served at home with roasted turkey, but can undoubtedly go in exclusive restaurants with their gastro creations, as it’s a genial wine to combine. And yes, they’ve let us know the next, coming soon, will be even better.
So, PP Orahovica is slowly but surely taking a place among the best. It’s no longer just the Green Silvanac – we now have an excellent Chardonnay and an even better Frankovka, and knowing Ivana there will be more surprises there.
In the end, one small advice to the Orahovica team: let Ivana Nemet play around, don’t hold her back and you’ll get top notch win creations.
