To prove that producers, each on his own, are becoming aware of the potential of the wine growing area and are serious about the pearls is seen in their cooperation with the Champagne enology institute
Zagreb County forms almost a ring around the capital Zagreb. It number 317.642 residents and is third in size in Croatia. Geographically it is a very diverse area – mountains to the west and southwest, rolling hills to the northeast, valleys to the east, depressions in Turopolje and Pokuplje in the south.
Industry and trade form two thirds of income, followed by agriculture and transportation. Wine growing is most present in the Zelina and Jastrebarsko areas.
The county has 972.42 hectares under vines, half of that in the Plešivica subregion. The ten most spread sorts are Graševina, Kraljevina, Rhine Riesling, Chardonnay, Portugiser, Green Silvanac, Ranfol or Štajerska belina, Pinot Gray, Sauvignon white and Pinot white. There are 698 registered wine makers, with annual production around 31.437 hectolitres of mostly white wine. Production of sparkling wines is in significant rise.
Modern production of sparkling wines in the county began in the 1980s, when the enologist in the Jaska-vino company Franjo Jambrović, of the renown Međimurje wine family Jambrović, initiated the formation of a Friends of Good Wine Club in an attempt to connect the wine makers in the west of Zagreb and have them compete who will make the best wine, expand the offer of different wines and raise the quality of the drink. After playing with sparklings in his own cellar for a few years, he tried to make other Plešivica producers to consider sparkling wines produced through the classic champagne method. Jambrović recognised the great value of certain old sorts on Plešivica in the sparkling wine context.
His biggest followers in terms of sparklings were Ivan Turk with a vineyard in Marija Gorica and Zvonimir Tomac from Donja Reka. The first to produce a sparkling wine – called Šenpjen (Šenkovec sparkling) – for the market was Turk, with Tomac following soon, today the leading sparkling wine producer in Croatia. As more producers turned to sparkling wines, the traditionally white sorts region saw more and more of Pinot Nero, which also became quite useful for a still red wine.
Besides the Tomac family, very well positioned is also Zdenko Šember, who produces a white and a pink sparkling, using Pinot Nero.
Plešivica can be proud of a special curiosity: sparkling wine made from a base white wine macerated in amphoras for six months! This specific sparkling wine, named Amfora, was produced by the Tomac family, with Šember following suit since 2014.
The largest producer in Zagreb County is the Mladina cellar (built on the foundations of Jaska-vino), that produces Poy sparkling wines in two categories – base line with colourful labels in the charmat method (second fermentation in large stainless steel tanks), and a higher quality category, with elegant gold and black labels, through the classical method of a second fermentation in the bottle. Mladina has been making news with quality, with her best sparklings in the black Poy label.
Other producers include Jagunić, Kurtalj (recently promoted his new sparkling Kurtalj rose brut), Kolarić, Ivančić (makes several sparklings from several sorts), Kunović and new names Barundić and Rajaković, the last two from the Krašić area while others are mostly from the Plešivica-Okić area. Following soon is the Korak family, well situated in still wines and producing their first sparkling for 2017.
Two sparkling wine producers are from the Zelina area, Ivana Puhelek – enologist at the Institute of wine growing and wine making on the Faculty of Agronomy in Zagreb, once the Wine Quee of Zagreb County, which gave the name Kraljica for her sparkling – and Željko Kos. They both use a base wine from a sort many would pass up, showing great results in sparkling wines. Puhelek has great success with the Kraljevina sort, while Kos uses Chardonnay, Kraljevina and Rhine Riseling in equal amounts.
The newest sparkling wine producer Zdravko Župančić comes from Samobor, using Kerner, Green Silvanac and Manzoni sorts.
To show that they are serious about their sparkling wines, wine makers from Plešivica and Zelina have connected with renown enologist from the Champagne Institute for Enology Pierre-Yves Bournerias who has already held several lectures, also advising some sparkling wine producers, organising visits to Champagne as well.
