March 10, 2020 – “Wine Talks with Tomislav Stiplošek”, is a fun but educative interactive workshop that is getting more and more attention from wine experts and wine lovers. This time, the guests were from Erdut winery.
The program takes place in Procafé in the center of Zagreb, and happening twice a month, it is getting more and more popular. The venue is always full! This time, the guests were from Erdut winery one of the bigger Croatian wineries. The history of the winery spans back to the beginning of the 18th century, and the year 1730 is considered the beginning of the winegrowing tradition of the whole region. Historian Hrvoje Pavić who is in charge of marketing and tourism in the company talked about the history of the company, the winery, vineyards and the region. He also introduced the audience to the interesting and not widely known fact that in this very winery, there is the biggest barrel in the whole world that is in regular use. It is made of famous Slavonian oak of 75 000 liters capacity. It is always full of Graševina, typical Slavonian grape variety. With the little help from Tomislav Stiplošek and his friends, nice snacks and interesting comments, Erdutski vinogradi presented eight of their wines in a very nice atmosphere. The wines were: Graševina premium (2019.), Chardonnay premium (2019.), Pinot Grigio (2019.), Pinot Noir (2019.), Rosé (2019.), Cabernet Franc (2018.), Merlot (2018.) and Traminac ice wine (2012.)
Melita Rumbak, who followed in her mother’s steps as a chief oenologist in the company, led the tasting and presented each wine. It can almost literally be said that this winery is running through her blood. It was evident from her presentation that the winery takes special care of the vineyards and that they are more dedicated to the white than red wines, Erdut being more favorable terroir for the white varietals. Wines were overall of good quality, very expressive of the varieties, highly mineral – obviously created by an oenologist who consistently follows her idea. Last but not least, the wines are not pricey and can be bought for 30 to sixty kuna a bottle. The big barrel line, however, is their premium line – and they are slightly more expensive, while the name is an homage to the aforementioned big barrel.
There is still time for these wines to ripen, but they are already showing great potential. The wine that was liked by everybody was, besides the ice wine, Pinot Noir – which shows that even the light and elegant red wines have serious potential in Erdut. It is a very fresh wine, with considerable green notes on the nose; aromatic wine ideal for summer evenings. One of the head people at Erdutski Vinogradi – Josip Pavić, highlighted the fact that this winery offers quality wines for a moderate price and that they are proud to be among rare Croatian producers of “best buy” wines. Pavić has recently become the president of the wine sector within the Croatian Chamber of Economy, so he shortly addressed the aims and plans in HGK.
“I have learnt in life to try to have a wide overview of the problems and only then start to solve them. One of the first is to motivate young winemakers and it is up to the state just as the Croatian Chamber of Economy to do so. We have been around and, for instance, the Hungarian town and the whole of region Villány – literally lives for and of wine. Except for Istria, in Croatia, other wine regions could do the same. We have to put Croatia on the wine map of the world,” stressed Pavić.
Very well known wine journalist Ivo Kozarčanin said: Villány is a worldwide known region and even to start the comparison with them is audacious. Can we be like them? Hmmm. Should we try? Of course, we should do our best. It takes a lot of work, clever planning and a little bit of luck. Studena and Radenska waters were served and cheese Baranjac accompanied by kulen, sausages and bacon made of black Slavonian hog by Belje. The quality of these products was very good and they were received with accolades. The secret of the quality is in keeping the pigs outside where they live more or less freely, but the quality of the red peppers, the process of smoking the meat and letting it ripen slowly, also are partly responsible for the high quality and the deliciousness. Young pattisier Božidar Akrap also presented his craft – by pairing his cheesecake with the Traminac ice wine and it was a great success. Ivana Berišić, EIC of the portal Poduzetna.com, had the opportunity to promote her products – non-edible delicacies like decorative magnets in the form of different sweets and cakes. The writer Lea Brezar, known for her bestselling book “Super Heroes”, promoted her new novel “Mirrors”, and announced the opening of the first private grammar school by the name Epoha, that will teach according to Waldorf methodology.
“I am very glad that Wine Talks have become a ritual for so many people who are regulars and keep returning to our evenings dedicated to wine, art, talented people, interesting artists of all kinds. These were the 21st Wine Talks and, it seems they are a complete and utter success – said the author Tomislav Stiplošek.
The next Wine Talks are scheduled for the 16th of March in Procafe, with the wines from the famous Ilok podium.
Photos by Rene Karaman
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