More than sixty winemakers presented their splendid Istrian Malvasia wines at the recently held En Primeur at the Esplanade Hotel in Zagreb. In addition to the Istrian Jelenić prosciutto and Latus cheeses, this year they were joined by several producers of Žlahtina and some twenty winemakers from the Hilly Croatia region. Almost 700 visitors attended the event.
“The largest ever number of winemakers taking part in En Primeur confirms that this unique event – which we first organised in 2012 – is growing year after year. I am pleased that every year there is an increase in the number of caterers, sommeliers, distributors and wine connoisseurs who enjoy Malvasia from all parts of Istria. This is a unique opportunity to get acquainted with the characteristics of the latest harvest, and the year 2018 has given us wines of great potential and high quality,” said Nikola Benvenuti, the president of Vinistra, the Association of Winemakers and Winegrowers of Istria, which organised En Primeur, together with the Winemaking Association of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce.
“The improvement in the reputation of Croatian wines can be seen in numbers. Wine exports rose by more than 22 per cent in the first ten months of last year in the higher-price wine category. Since Malvasia is one of the favourite wines among tourists, I expect that wines will contribute to the tourist offer and tourist identity of Croatia. The Croatian Chamber of Commerce and its Winemaking Association, together with the national brand we have developed, Vina Croatia – Vina Mosaica, will continue to work on the international promotion of Croatian wines, for which we will use both our funds and the funds from the EU wine envelope,” said the vice-president for agriculture and tourism of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce Dragan Kovačević.
The young Malvasias delighted Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić, who came to greet the Istrian winemakers as usual, and the support was also given by Ezio Pinzan, head of the Agriculture Department of the Istrian County. “I have once again seen that there are no bad wines in Istria. Today we can only talk about good and even better Malvasias. Our technology is at the world-class level, while Istrian winemakers are well-educated and are continually improving their knowledge, which is an excellent addition to the tradition we have in the winemaking industry. The only element by which the Malvasias differ is the shade of the terroir, i.e. the location from which they come from,” Pinzan said.
The terroir was the topic of a workshop held as part of the event for the second year in a row. Mario Staver, PhD, from the Poreč Agricultural Department of the Rijeka Polytechnic, presented nine Malvasias from five different parts of the Istrian peninsula. He concluded that the young Malvasias reflected typical colour and aroma with dominant fruity scents, and thanks to the favourable weather conditions, the cutting-edge technology and the skills of Istrian winemakers, this year we will drink excellent wines.
More news about wines in Croatia can be found in the Lifestyle section.
