The Deklić family from Ferenci village near Vižinada has been in winemaking since 1920
Every moment the winter sun allows them, brothers Dino and David Deklić spend in the vineyard. This is the time of pruning vines, and work is plenty as they need to comb 17 hectares of vineyards. Around half of them are near Ferenci, Staniši and Crklada villages, while the other half is near villages Vrh Lašići and Ohnići. Mostly Malvasia, around 70 percent, while other varieties include Chardonnay, Yellow Muscat, Terrano, Refošk, Cabernet Sauvignon and the youngest among them, Merlot.
The Deklić family from Ferenci village near Vižinada has been in winemaking since 1920. At first it was a small family winery which produces only Malvasia and Terrano with hardly a few hectares of vineyards. Lately, since the winery was taken over by Dino and David as young, educated and ambitious winemakers, every year they would plant a hectare or two of new vineyards. When they reach twenty, they will stop, as they say. Beyond the varieties already in the vineyard (the Merlot will yield grapes in three years), they could be intrigued by Sauvignon Blanc. It would serve well in coupages and they imagine its freshness would go well with the characteristics of Malvasia and the structure of Chardonnay.
The wine chart of Deklić winery now has six labels: of the fresh wines they have Malvasia, Chardonnay, Yellow Muscat and Terrano rose, and of the aged wines Terrano and Cabernet Sauvignon. Their easily recognisable labels, with multiple versions of a stylized letter D, were designed by the renowned studio Sonda from Vižinada. So far they were oriented to single variety wines, on which these young winemakers learned their trade, testing the character given to each variety by the red soil of their vineyards, how it bears domestic and international varieties.
“The Vižinada area is specific, there are many renowned producers, but there is still progress to be made in wine here, and we want to especially develop Malvasia and Terrano. We want to preserve what has always been ours and focus on aged wines as this is how varieties and specifics are expressed,” said Dino and David Deklić, with a special glow in their eyes when talking of details and finesses of their wine production.
As far as aged wines, they are currently marketing the 2013 harvest, while 2014 wasn’t bottled as it was a bad year, when most dark grapes ended in roses or bulk. As they have relatively less dark grapes, their last planting was focused on red varieties, especially Merlot which will be a novelty in their palette. In earlier years they planted Chardonnay, and their experience with the variety has met their expectations fully, showing it ready for further aging and combining in coupages, to fully show its character.
“Vižinada Chardonnay is somewhat different than in other parts of Istria, the local climate and red soil at 300-310 metres above sea level are very beneficial. The harvest comes slightly earlier, aroma is more intense, it is denser, greasier and tastes more complex, but well balanced,” Dino and David said.
The Deklić winery produces 70-80.000 litres of wine annually, depending on the year, while their bottles are available in restaurants across Istria, in Rijeka, Opatija, Zagreb and along the Dalmatian coast and on islands.
We asked Dino and David Deklić, young but already quite experienced winemakers at the start of their careers how they envision their winery in ten years, but David hesitated to make such a distant “prophecy.”
“We can envision a maximum of five years ahead. We certainly want to maintain a balance of quality, but we do not want to be an industry, but tradition. By then we will switch more to red aged wines and coupages, probably creating some new labels to keep up with trends and be competitive. As for styles, we are still playing, for example we have just purchased acacia barrels and want to try them. No need to rush, as the product must first be good enough for us so we may decide if we want to continue producing it.
Is their Malvasia good enough was not judged by themselves, but by the expert jury of Vinistra, who gave it 89.5 points, the highest rating of any Malvasia at this year’s competition, missing out on the champion title by a thread. The hardworking brothers often point out how as kids, with their grandfather, they learned all that needs to be done in the vineyard, so it was logical to choose wine growing and winemaking for their education and life calling. “This is how we were raised as children, invest a lot of effort and it becomes a part of you, something you love,” is how Dino and David Deklić describe themselves, their work, their wines and their wine philosophy. We would add: to trust their wines as the final product of their philosophy, nothing else is needed.
At their estate in Ferenci they have a pool house for rent with 12 beds, as well as the recently completed tasting room due to be receive guests in May of next year. This will round off their wine tourism offer, where besides accommodation, tasting and wine sales they intend to add guided tours of the vineyard and winery, explaining to interested guests how what is in their glass comes about.
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