Price: 80 kunas in the winery
Tomac family labels come with high expectations and reasons for this are not superficial or fashionable. This label has an additional dedication. While Tomislav Tomac dedicated himself to sparklings becoming more impressive from disgorgement to disgorgement, Zvonko Tomac directed his knowledge and experience to still wines. To honour friends he learned from himself, the labels had a dedication to professors Jambrović and Nežić.
Material for this wine even comes from Nežić’s former vineyard cultivated with the Zelenac variety. The best known Zelenac in Croatia is the one from the Krauthaker winery, and in the world, basically in Austria, the variety is originally named – Rotgipfler.
This variety name is also written on the label, but it seems the bottle content has a more distinctive signature of the winemaker than clear characteristics of the variety, at least not those it gains at chosen positions of Thermenregion.
After green apple and valley flowers on the nose, quite a strong grip on the palate which can mean many things. For example, the bottle was opened too early or closed too soon. Something the Tomac family bottled three months ago probably needed more time, but I cannot escape the impression that the “position” of wine at 12.5% alcohols and exceptional dryness is not ideal for Rotgipfler.
Green acids pinch all along the palate, but without penetration. The wine has breadth, but dissipates until a relatively short ending, especially compared to what Tomac usually achieves (especially in legendary harvests like 2015).
However, Rotgipfler on Plešivica may not be such a lavish variety. The aroma combination I expect in my personal olfactory memory is infected with some of the most traditional and best positions of Thermenregion.
All in all, this was a pleasure. In the context of Tomac winery expectations, this is average, or below it actually. It does achieve the freshness ideal with the extra dryness and low alcohols, but compared to the few Freigut Thallern labels I recall, ripeness is green, terroir invisible.
Time would tell, if those thousand bottles would not be consumed to quench thirst this very summer.
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