Last spring the entire Croatian public was stunned by news that Veralda Istrian 2015 won the platinum medal and 95 points at Decanter’s World Championship for 2016. It is to date the most relevant international recognition for any Istrian red wine. Besides, two more factors influence the surprise factor.
Firstly, Veralda from Brtonigla in Istria is known for good wines, but also not by consistency in production. Its bottles vary from average to very good, but it never managed to become an elite Istrian winery. Secondly, both Terrano and Refošk are varieties which need time: it is quite unusual that a completely young Terrano or Refošk wins 95 points.
We tasted the awarded Istrian recently. It truly is an excellent wine, wonderful purple-black colour, full of dark fruit, very fresh but not at all bitter, with a lovely, almost velvety texture. Veralda Istrian belongs among the rare elegant, polished wines from Refošk, which certainly influenced Decanter’s rating. Istrian just recently went into broad distribution, available in Zagreb in the Vivat wine shop.
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