The history of the family winery that is now called Voštinić Klasnić begins at the point in history when not many good things happened: a reputable butcher, Mato Klasnić, decided in 1939 to build the wine cellar in the vineyard he purchased, and then planted the new vines in the unusually large area – for that time. His son Zlatko took over the love for winemaking, and the tradition is continued by Vladimir Voštinić (the son-in-law) who added another hectare of škrlet, the indigenous variety in Moslavina, one that remains the winery’s strongest brand today.
In 2004 the new generation of winemaker takes over: Tomislav, who runs the winery today as well, introduced new methods and technologies into their vineyards and cellars. Many of the most respected oenologists in Croatia helped him find the way, and his loyalty to the natural principles in the vineyard and best technologies available allowed (including the state-of-the-art filtration technique) the winery to produce some really excellent wines. Today they have 3.5 hectares of their own vineyards in Moslavina, at the average elevation of 195 meters, which is ideal for the varieties they are growing there, and their red wines come from a vineyard in Baranja.
The pride of their winery is, as we mentioned, škrlet, and they bottle two types of škrlet: the first is the “ordinary” škrlet (although still categorized as premium wine), light and fresh, dry and fruity, with 12 % alcohol and a specifically pale yellow colour. The other is the škrlet Unikat (unique), the wine made from late harvest škrlet, semi-dry, with a bit more alcohol, still refreshing but with much more intense fruity flavour. They recommend you having this wine with seafood, especially sushi or sashimi. Their other “standard” whites are chardonnay and graševina, both created in a non-standard way, as Voštinić-Klasnić winery uses sur lie technique for both of those varieties, which gives both wines a more complex varietal flavour.
The reds they make are “The Red”, a classic Bordeaux-type blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and cabernet franc, a full-bodied wine that is pleasantly sweet, spicy and mature at the same time and a very elegant, fruity and not too spicy Syrah. Since 2011 the winery has also made sparkling wine from škrlet grapes, but that you will probably not be able to get anywhere except if you visit their cellar and tasting room, located still in their vineyard, where they organize tastings and events.
