Falstaff, one of the most influential food&wine magazines in German language, which is being published in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, brings a big editorial, entitled “Kroatien: Weine aus dem Paradies” (“Croatia: Wines from Paradise”), about Croatia and Croatian wines in its May 2016 issue which has been published on April 27, 2016. This is the second time that the magazine’s team led by Editor in Chief Peter Moser did a rating of Croatian wines (the first took place 2010). Next to the published wine rating, the article offers some interesting view on winemaking in Croatia and also offers some comparisons to other wine regions and a rating of tasted Croatian wine.
He visits the vineyards of the Mrgudić-Bura winery and the vineyards of the Saint Hills wine project on the Pelješac peninsula, where he surprisingly meets French star-oenologist Michel Rolland. He talks about the tremendously fast development of Croatian winemaking in the past 25 years and about how the country’s EU-membership and the Euro, once it becomes currency in Croatia, will speed up the process even more and increase export. He also points out the importance of wine exhibitions, such as the Vinistra in Poreč, Istria (which takes place next weekend, May, 13-15, and from which total-croatia-news.com will be reporting) and the Dalmatia Wine Expo in Split for the presentation of Croatian wines. Dingač, Plavac mali, Teran, Pošip and of course Malvazija are the grape varieties discussed. Istrian Meneghetti, Kozlović, Matošević, Coronica, Degrassi, Benvenuti, Geržinić, Franc Arman, Radovan and Trapan wineries are mentioned, as well as Kabola, Roxanich, Piquentum and Giorgio Clai and their special wines.
Besides Dalmatia and Istria, as the best known Croatian wine regions, Moser also visits the Island of the Kvarner region and the wineries Katunar, Šipun, Nada, PZ Vrbnik, Toljanić, Dobrinčić and Šuljić for their Žlahtina wine.
Interestingly, Peter Moser writes that in Croatia vineyards are planted on 60,000 hectares and the yearly wine production amounts to some 1.2 million hectolitres, while in his homeland of Austria, 45,000 hectares of vineyards on average produce 2.3 million hectares.
Peter Moser’s choice of the 9 best Croatian wines:
2010 “Bas de Bas”, Syrah – Bibich Winery, Plastovo, Skradin/Dalmatia, 94 Points, Price range €40 – €100
2010 “Medvid”, Plavac mali – Duboković, Hvar/Dalmatia, 94 Points, Price range €40 – €100
2010 “Meneghetti Red” – Meneghetti, Bale/Istria, 94 Points, Price range €20 – €40
2009 “Malvazija Antica – Roxanich, Nova Vas/Istria, 94 Points, Price range €20 – €40
2010 “Dingač Bura” – Niko Bura & Mrgudić Family, Potomje/Dalmatia, 93 Points, Price range €40 – €100
2010 “Grimalda White” – Matošević, Pula (?)/Istria, 93 Points, Price range €20 – €40
2013 “Santa Lucia”, Malvazija – Kozlović, Momjan/Istria, 93 Points, Price range €15 – €20
2013 “Sv.Jakov”, Malvazija – Clai Giorgio, Buje/Istria, Price range €20 – €40
2013 “Majstor”, Pošip – Stina, Bol/Dalmatia, 92 Points, Price range €20 – €40
To the complete results of the tasting.
