SVIJET U ČAŠI & SUHI U ČAŠI & WINE STARS
BUYER’S GUIDE
DECEMBER 2017
IN THE WINE THERE IS SUN, SOIL, VINE AND SWEAT, AUTHENTICITY AND BUSINESS, JOY AND PAIN, ANXIETY AND EBRIETY
SAMPLES ARE FROM THE MARKET
♣♣♣♣♣♣ –Champion – 99 – 100 (or: 19,9 – 20 / 4,9 – 5,0) pts = Brilliant! Impressive! Unique!
♣♣♣♣♣ –Great gold medal – 95 – 98 (19,5 – 19,8 / 4,5 – 4,8) = Excellent, with character, elegant, classic great wine.
♣♣♣♣ –Gold medal – 90 – 94 (18,6 – 19,4 / 4,0 – 4,4) = outstanding, multilayered, with high style and a big personality.
♣♣♣ –Silver medal – 85 – 89 (17,5 – 18,5 / 3,0 – 3,9) = very good and typical, complex, convincing, with chances to develop even more, for the exigent consumer.
♣♣ 80 – 84 (15,5 – 17,4 / 2,1 – 2,9) = variety recognisable, in a certain determinate style, solid, not exciting.
♣ 71 – 79 (11,0 – 15,4 / 1,1 – 2,0) = average, ordinary, with no virtues and no significant to strong flaws, still acceptable for everyday use.
under 71 ( 11,0 / 1,0) = low-average, best to avoid.
⇑- drink • ⇗ –drink or hold • ⇒ –hold • – recommended to drink with food.
Samples are taken from sources with adequate wine storage and expert staff, so inappropriate storage effects should be excluded. If a classic scent or taste is found on the cap (TCA), the sample is retasted from another bottle. A sample is immediately rejected if at least two thirds of the jury decides so. For a quality/price comparison the wine needs at least 85 points out of 100, or 17.5 points from 20, or 3 on a scale to 5.
Sparkling wines
♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ (118 kn) CENTURION brut nature – BOLFAN
■ ORIGIN: Zagorje-Međimurje, Zabok • 13,0 %
■ Wine presents as full, warm, complex, of champagne aroma – scent of fruit and brioche supported by a fine touch of wood and noble notes of aging. Very good pearling. Missing slight acidity to increase liveliness. This is not a sparkling for an aperitif, but with meals, and after them.
♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ (150 kn) MISAL BLANC de NOIR brut – PERŠURIĆ
■ ORIGIN: Croatian Istria • 12,1 %
■ Wine is complex, elegant, solid, with excellent pearling. Fruity-flowery, with an addition of brioche. Rich aroma, fresh taste, balanced and lasting.
♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ (110 kn) ANITA brut – KOS ŽELJKO
■ ORIGIN: Prigorje-Bilogora, Zelina • 12,5 %
■ Wine is clear, harmonious, on the elegance track. Very good pearling. Slightly secretive on the nose, pronounced in the mouth, likeable.
♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ (100 kn) MISAL PRESTIGE extra brut – PERŠURIĆ
■ ORIGIN: Croatian Istria • 12,5 %
■ Wine is beyond classical norms, complex and interesting. Strong yellow colour to gold, with tertiary bouquet, herbs on the nose, good acidity in the mouth which gives it enough liveliness.
♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ (113 kn) ROSÉ brut – TOMAC
■ ORIGIN: Plešivica-Okić • 13,0 %
■ Wine is serious, flaunting, lively and with very pronounced freshness, excellent pearling, very good body, long lasting taste. Potential! Gives an impression that it deserved, at least some of the quantity, to be released later, spending a few more years on yeasts in the bottle before disgorging.
♣ ♣ ♣ (140 kn) BRUT nature – KORAK
■ ORIGIN: Plešivica-Okić • 12,5 %
■ This wine is a serious sparkling, it has everything it needs. Rich and fine scent, tiny and numerous pearls, rounded, creamy but dry to the bone, very good structure, lasting, with a little more time in the bottle it can gain a lot.
♣ ♣ ♣ (150 kn) DIPLOMAT extra brut – TOMAC
■ ORIGIN: Plešivica-Okić • 12,5 %
■ Wine is complex, harmonious and elegant, lively and fresh, with a note of mineral, has fruitiness and brioche aroma. Slight touch of wood in the scent adds an extra dimension.
♣ ♣ ♣ (145 kn) PAVEL 2013 brut – ŠEMBER
■ ORIGIN: Plešivica-Okić • 12,5 %
■ Wine has a multitude of small bubbles, rich, solid, refined and elegant, not too much or too little of anything. Potential for longer aging on yeasts before disgorging.
♣ ♣ ♣ (150 kn) MISAL BLANC de BLANC 2010 brut nature – PERŠURIĆ
■ ORIGIN: Croatian Istria • 12,5 %
■ Wine is something else completely, years have done their job, a classy aging which gave the sparkling a new aroma identity, without losing liveliness. Complex sparkling which is not for everybody and requires knowledge when and where to serve it. Stronger golden colour, tertiary bouquet, with a note of coffee. For moments of meditation…
♣ ♣ ♣ (140 kn) ROSÉ brut – ŠEMBER
■ ORIGIN: Plešivica-Okić • 12,5 %
■ Wine is pure, harmonious, very dry and refreshing. Plenty of fruitiness lasting long in the mouth. It would be worth meeting it again after a few more years of aging on yeasts in the bottle before disgorging.
♣ ♣ ♣ (100 kn) THREE STARS brut – JAGUNIĆ
■ ORIGIN: Plešivica-Okić • 12,0 %
■ Wine is a typical brut sparkling, very correct, harmonious, pleasant savour and likeable, but the commercial note which can aid its marketing does not harm its virtue.
♣ ♣ ♣ (140 kn) ROSÉ brut nature – KORAK
■ ORIGIN: Plešivica-Okić • 12,5 %
■ Wine is lively, very well done. Rich pearling, smells of strawberries and raspberries, soft in the mouth, a bit more time in the bottle could give it a stronger boost…
♣ ♣ ♣ (110 kn) ROSULA ROSÉ brut – ŽELJKO KOS
■ ORIGIN: Prigorje-Bilogora, Zelina • 12,5 %
■ Wine is lovely, harmonious, very fresh, serious, has fruitiness, very good body, long lasting. Sparkling is suitable to serve with stronger food such as duck drumstick.
♣ ♣ ♣ (150 kn) CLAI brut nature – CLAI
■ ORIGIN: Croatian Istria • 13,0 %
■ Wine is a significant departure from classic sparklings – this one is made from a base produced in somewhat different technology from the common one. Not for everyone’s taste, requires some affinity for the style. Complex and particular, offer scents of overly ripe fruits, very good pearling, liveliness, fullness and solid body. Definitely serve with a stronger meal, seafood such as octopus and cuttlefish.
♣ ♣ ♣ (160 kn) STINA brut nature Pošip 2014 – STINA-VINO
■ ORIGIN: Brač • 12,0 %
■ Wine has excellent pearling. Solid, finely dry, strong body and long taste.
Still wines
Croatian Highlands
♣ ♣ ♣ SAUVIGNON 2016 – CMREČNJAK
■ ORIGIN: Zagorje-Međimurje, Međimurje Sv.Urban
■ VINEYARD: slope • variety: Sauvignon
■ LABEL: quality with controlled origin • 11,5 %
■ BOTTLED in: 0,75 ℓ • bottle, model: Bordeaux • CAP: DIAM 3
■ DESIGN: neat • label: tiny letters, tough reading
Wine is spruced up, harmonious, fresh and flaunting, likeable. Looks lively, clear, green-yellow. Coherent with terroir, variety, harvest, age. Quite intense no the nose, but not aggressive, points to fruitiness (fruit: domestic/green; white; southern/citrus – fresh), floral, vegetable/herbal (tomato leaf, grass). Savoury in the mouth, very good trailing acidity. Good in body&structure, fresh, bitter, medium long ending.
■ SERVING: ⇑ • medium large glass • 10-12° C
Dalmatia
♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ DINGAČ 2015 klasiko – BURA
■ ORIGIN: Pelješac
■ VINEYARD: Dingač • strong slope • variety: Plavac Mali • approach in the vineyard: nature friendly
■ CELLAR, maturation: wood
■ LABEL: protected origin • dry • 15,5 %
■ BOTTLED in: 0,75 ℓ • bottle, model: Bordeaux • normal • CAP: cork – short – feels inadequate for wine that has such potential for aging in bottle
■ DESIGN: elegant • label: recognisable from afar – interesting • readability: good
■ PACKAGING: refined • bottles wrapped in paper
Wine is rich, massive, but does not leave a commercial impression, interesting, complex and substantial, serious, very warm and dynamic, with character. Still too young, needs lots of time. It could be consumed with strong food, but a shame to waste it now as it is just beginning to develop. Looks lively, ruby-light granite, dark. Coherent with terroir, typology, variety, harvest, age. Quite intense on the nose, but not aggressive, lasting. Points to Mediterranean herbs, then spices – with measure and embedded, but still has a way to go to full and expected refined quality reach. Presents lovely fruitiness (fruit: domestic/red/pit/plum – dried). With a noticeable, lively, finely granulated tanning in the mouth, slightly dimmed by a dose of creaminess. Salty. Potent in body&structure, lively, warming, long and slightly coarse tannin ending.
■ SERVING: ⇒ • large glass (Bordeaux) • 18° C
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