Christmas time is positively the best time to launch a sparkling wine, so Feravino did exactly that. Feravino is one of the older Croatian wine producers, coming from Feričanci, as they like to say themselves, “the heart of Slavonia,” where they grow grapes on 160 hectares of vineyards in the Feričanci wine-growing area in Slavonia, the east part of Croatia between Hungary, Serbia and Bosnia. And among all cultures, viniculture was the most prominent one since the 13th century. The company owns a wine cellar built in 1962 in the village of Feričanci with 2.000.000 litres capacity. The annual production is 900.000 litres which makes this winery the largest of the smaller Croatian producers. The most important grapes they grow at Feravino are Frankovka (Blaufrankisch), Graševina (Welschriesling) and Zweigelt (a cross-breed between Frankovka and Lovrijenac).
The launch of their Virtuo sparkling wine took place a few days ago in the legendary Zagreb wine shop and wine bar Bornstein. Virtuo is a white sparkling wine from Rhine Riesling, brut, produced via the Champagne method of a second fermentation in the bottle. The same variety is a base for different Dika and Miraz labels by Feravino, so this event was a nice opportunity to taste all these wines and young, very fruity, soft and fresh Frankovka. You never get to go home hungry when in company of Slavonian people, so Slavonian kulen, cheese, and different dry sausages (some of them with truffles) were in abundance, and we also got to taste Dika Graševina 2015 and Graševina Miraz 2015, followed by Dika Merlot 2015.
The last wine served, Merlot Miraz 2012, was chosen as the best in its category at a recent international wine challenge Emozioni dal Mondo: Merlot e Cabernet Insieme in Bergamo, Italy. That very nice wine with dominant notes of mature sour cherry, nice acidity and brilliant freshness was undoubtedly the star of the evening and a pure delight, just as the festive atmosphere in Bornstein.
“Our Dika Graševina 2015 is a fresh wine from stainless steel, while Graševina Miraz 2015 is a different style wine made of more mature grapes and treated differently in the cellar, aged longer in the bottle and released to the market later. Dika Merlot 2015 is harmonious, soft and drinkable, aged for a shorter period of time in barrique barrels, while full-bodied and strong Merlot Miraz 2012, was aged for a longer period of time in wood. We saved the best for last – namely Frankovka Miraz 2012 – because this variety gives its best in our vineyards and we are particularly proud of our Frankovkas,” said chief enologist of Feravino, Marijan Knežević.
“When I tasted these wines, I immediately said: Let’s get to work,” said the owner of Bornstein wine shop and wine bar, Ivan Srpek, who now offers all of Feravino wines in his shop and bar. Thus the party and the introduction of Virtuo for friends and admirers. It is really pleasant to witness the progress of a company. That is what’s happening to me because of what is currently happening in Feravino. In recent years, Feravino has shown considerable progress and the quality of their wines is constantly on the rise. There is one more novelty from Feravino. It might be a small step for the wine scene, but it is a historical moment for the company known for its reds, because the above average year has finished with the first ice harvest of Frankovka at Srednjak wine position at seven degrees below zero temperature on a clear and dry morning while the sugars in the grapes were considerably high. Ice harvest and Christmas party where we all toasted with Virtuo, was the best possible way for Feravino to end a very good year. Cheers!
