January 22, on a holiday known as Vincekovo or Vinkovo (St. Vincent’s Day), wine growers in continental Croatia, and around the world, call on a blessing for their vineyards. In Feričanci, where the Feravino winery cultivates a rich wine history of Slavonia, it is a very merry time. Vines are cut to three buds, decorated with sausages and the leaves drenched in last year’s wine. This year there was plenty to celebrate!
The 2015 harvest was one of the best in the past twenty years and 2016 was challenging, but above average in wine quality. After two successful late harvests, last year was crowned with an ice harvest of the Frankovka variety. Vincekovo on the slopes of Krndija saw around a thousand wine lovers gather to celebrate the beginning to the wine growing year. 20 WOW members arrived here a week later, to a small, specially prepared and designed – boutique wine visit. And if the WOW girls know anything, they know that wine has a positive influence on health! It is important, naturally, to drink moderately and with food, confirmed by prof.dr.sc. Mladen Boban from the Split Faculty of Medicine who has been researching for years the biological mechanisms of health effects of wine. Besides, several years ago the Bordeaux Faculty of Pharmaceuticals confirmed that procyanidin, a component of red wines, prevents arteriosclerosis and reduces the risk of heart attacks, so it is no wonder that many WOW girls enjoyed the elegant Frankovka which contains the most procyanidin and which, along with Graševina, is the main product of Feravino. For WOW girls it all began sooner, on the road, with the first meeting with Feravino, more precisely an excellent rose Dika 2015, a light pink wine made from Frankovka.
It was a pleasant introduction and the beginning of a wonderful friendship, as we were accompanied by Feravino employees headed by domestic sales director Alen Britvarević, partly to blame for the phenomenal outing. Feravino is a unique continental winery with an accent in producing world renowned red wines, as well as superior whites, especially Graševina. In Feričanci we were greeted my chief oenologist Marijan Knežević, experienced in his job, whose work made Feravino recognisable from London to New York and opened new markets of Poland, Germany and Switzerland.
Along for the tour was also Jenette Šimić, in charge of PR and marketing. With a glass of the aforementioned wonderful rose Dika 2015, whose 2016 edition is soon coming to Pink Day festival, we learned interesting things of the winery. The Feravino cellar is among the technologically most modern wine cellars in Slavonia, but dates back to the beginning of the 19th century, frequently visited by renowned composer Franz Liszt who may have found inspiration for his musical works in the superior Feričanci drink. It is interesting even athletes drink a glass of superior wine with a meal. Feravino is a proud sponsor of the Croatian ski and handball selections, so at the Snow Queen Trophy race the world ski elite enjoyed wines from this Slavonian producer.
Guests in Feričanci are offered to taste wine with chosen delicacies in the Old Cellar, a winery tour with an oenologist, a wine lovers school, vineyard tour, with a planned opening of a new restaurant, as well as a new barrique cellar which will span a thousand square metres. After the initial tour of the winey and cellar, we were met by more wonderful wines in the tasting room. It is undeniable that varieties such as French Merlot, Austrian Frankovka, Australian Syrah, New Zealand Pinot Nero and “spacelike Cabernet Sauvignon” yield excellent results in Feričanci. And it is not at all unimportant to mention that Merlot Miraz 2012 was thebest rated wine in its category at the international wine tasting Emozioni dal Mondo: Merlot e Cabernet Insieme in Bergamo.
And WOW girls were offered to taste: the scented and specific Graševina Miraz 2015 (with a later harvest and somewhat different care in the cellar and longer aging). Then the majority’s favourite – Frankovka Miraz 2012 and a wonderful Syrah Miraz 2012. The tasting was a delight, with epithets such as – flaunting, fruity, interesting, fascinating, warm, ruby, excellent, dense, mighty, thunder… Certainly, if you are at all a lover of Slavonian red wines (if you’re not, become one soon), your collection must include mighty red wines of the Miraz label, whose best friend is a beef stew. This is how a renowned Croatian wine critic Ivo Kozarčanin once described it. The words were uttered after he tasted the Frankovka Miraz 2012, a lovely, fruity wine dominated by ripe sour cherry and the pleasant acids give it wonderful freshness. It goes along well with goat cheese, recommended by Rene Bakalović to be covered with pumpkin oil for the wine experience to be even more intense.
After the tasting came a pleasant walk through the romantic, snow covered, mellow slopes of Krndija hill. This walk left a lasting impression, grace to wonderful nature and a renovated Vincilirska House, renowned catering location on the prestigious Bovine Head wine position. Truly a unique space in the middle of vineyards, ideal for get togethers and team building! After the walk came a surprise: tambouritza band and a wonderful lunch! We were full and enjoyed with fervour, as is specific for women, with plenty of toasts and music. With Slavonian delicacies came young wines: Graševina Dika 2016 and young Frankovka 2016. Besides, it is a known fact no guest leaves the heart of Slavonia hungry or thirsty. WOW girls were a witness: from immaculate cold meat appetizers to beef goulash and baked veal, everything was delicious, authentic and domestic, perfect taste and scent, melting in the mouth, enjoyed and appreciated.
Phenomenal hospitality, unspeakable warmth and joy of company, fresh homemade food, all the wine you want. What else to say – we now eagerly await for the market debut of the sparkling white wine Virtuo, brut, produced with fermentation in the bottle, from the Rhine Riesling variety which some lucky people had the opportunity to taste last year in the Bornstein wine shop and bar in Zagreb. Cheers!
