They year behind us had plenty of good wines from domestic production
The white and rose wines were from the 2015 harvest, one of the best harvests in the last several decades. The reds had a different situation as the range of available harvests was significantly higher than with white wines, from 2011 to 2015, but in general the quality was higher. At the end of the year we sublimed the successes of domestic wines in Croatia and the world and singled out five whose merit and awards qualify them for the title Wine of the Year in our magazine, Jutarnji List published on January 21, 2017.
1st CATEGORY – TOMAC SPARKLING WINE, AMFORA BRUT NATURE 275 KN (VIVAT)
For years the sparkling wines of Tomac winery are known as superior, with Millenium being a rare sparkling whose availability equally won over demanding wine lovers and those more relaxed who usually enjoy Prosecco. The amphorae sparkling was for Tomac a step from the familiar into the unknown. They were the first, as far as we know, who decided to produce sparklings through the method. Soon two important international awards arrived. The first was that renowned wineries from Champagne, such as Jacques Selosse and Henri Giroud, took after them to produce champagne from amphorae. Secondly: Decanter magazine listed the amphorae sparkling among 75 wines that made a mark in 2016.
2nd CATEGORY – WHITE WINE ILOK CELLARS, GRAŠEVINA GREAT HARVEST, 299 KN (ILOK CELLARS WINE SHOP)
Producers of dry Graševina who held back their wine from the market in the first year are rare. It’s simply tradition broken regularly only by Mihalj from Kutjevo. Even Enjingi, known for his aged wines recently decided to market young one-year-olds. Graševina Great Harvest from Ilok Cellars is one of the best Graševinas we ever tasted, aged four years. Not much is known on the potential of maturing Graševina, but this changes a lot as the superior quality of this wine is not only in the selection of best grapes, but surely in the maturation type intended for it by the chief oenologist of Ilok Cellars Vera Zima.
3rd CATEGORY – ROSE AHEARNE, ROSINA 2015, 129 KN (ATROX)
Selecting the best rose of the year was not easy, as 2015 is the harvest of 95% of roses on the market. However, one stands out. It is the Rosina, the Ahearne winery rose, owned by British oenologist with a temporary address in Sveta Nedjelja on Hvar, where she makes reds from Plavac Mali and rose from Drnekuša. Besides being a fine wine with typical merits of dry superior roses made in the manner of a good Bandol, Rosina deserves acclaim for another reason. It brought back the endangered Drnekuša variety and found an ideal use for it, which could, if followed, make Hvar renowned for more than Plavac Mali.
4th CATEGORY – RED WINE VERALDA, ISTRIAN 2015, 189 KN (VRUTAK)
Many eyebrows were raised when news came of a recognition for the Terrano by the Veralda winery from the Decanter World Wines Awards. It said: Istrian is the best wine of the competition in the category of other monovarietal red wines over 15 pounds, with the title Platinum – Best in Show. Spirits began to stir on the domestic wine scene as Istrian was produced in atypical method for wines that win such awards. The grapes came from a vineyard less than five years old, the harvest was mechanical, the wine matured only four months in used barriques. Juicy and concentrated wine with mild tannins and plenty of fresh fruitiness is a much softer Terrano than the ones we are used to, obviously quite pleasing for judges at the Decanter competition.
5th CATEGORY – DESSERT WINE, BENVENUTI SAN SALVATORE 2011, 210 KN (MIVA)
A beauty, which will continue to develop in the next five to ten ears as five years for this type of predicate is considered adolescence. It is made from dried San Salvatore grapes, from the same name position at 400 metres above sea level. Grapes are dried on straw for 2-3 months, the must macerated for five days, fermented for 6-8 months, only on its own yeasts, stopping on its own. Wine is then matured for two years on fine residue. The wine is sweet, but fantastically balanced and fresh, not at all filling. It impressed the rating commission at the London IWC. It won a gold medal and a regional trophy, the title of best Croatian wine for 2016.
