The WOW girls were invited to a premier tasting of new wines Kabola Amfora 2015, held in the wonderful ambience of the Istrian Kabola winery in Momjan. The winery, whose owner is Marino Markežić, is intertwined with multi-centennial family tradition started in 1891 when the corner stone of the winery was set by the Momjan Muscat. From then until now, with great effort and tradition nurturing, the third generation of the Markežić family continues this lovely wine story of their ancestors, creating a recognisable and superior way of producing wine. They are exported around Europe – Austria, Germany, Italy, France, United Kingdom, Belgium, The Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Montenegro, Bosnia&Herzegovina, Serbia, Slovenia and Czech Republic.
The Markežić family will surely leave a permanent mark in Croatian and Istrian wine production, with their creative energy and love for tradition and wines constantly enticing them to create new ways of producing quality wines. Kabola winery is also the only winery in Istria to have ecological production in all vineyards, with an eco-certificate for all their wines. That means they only use natural additives in their production (sulphur and copper). The first white wine in Croatia to receive an eco-label was the Kabola Malvasia in 2008.
It is evident that wine production is not just a business for this family, but also a lifestyle, always in balance with nature and giving their best. Their effort is often awarded and crowned with awards and prestigious medals for wine quality. They were awarded the gold medal for Unica 2010 in Ljubljana (in the best white wine category), and in 2015 for their sparkling wine Re, a silver medal in London at the Decanter, a silver medal for Terrano 2010 at the International Wine Challenge in London in 2015. These are just some of the confirmations that these are superior wines with a dedicated approach to wine production. The Kabola label is on wine charts of several highly prestigious European restaurants with Michelin stars (Bernard Loiseau – France, Taubenkobel – Austria, Sel Gris – Belgium…). The winery is in the northwest area of the Istrian peninsula, at 275 metres above sea level. The vineyards are on the Štancija hill and in the area of the Kanedolo winery near Momjan with a view of the wonderful hilly landscape. Spacious Kabola vineyards are on one side surrounded by rich, untouched nature and on the other with the colourful sea panorama. One of their specialties is wine in amphorae which revives the wine philosophy nurtured in antique times. The renown amphorae wine is the crown of their efforts.
“This is where nature gifted us the most so the Istrian Malvasia gained a new dimension. Through prolonged fermentation in amphorae and the resting of wine without the removal of drop and residue until late spring, the Malvasia shows its nobility. Grapes are born from the soil and gives its juice to the soil so it would turn it to wine,” said Marino Markežić.
At the premier wine tasting, Kabola winery experts provided insight for guests into the secrets of their wines and vineyards and into details of the creation of their cult labels. The Istrian winery offer a tasting of a selection of their best wines from the last harvest such as Secco, Malvasia, Rosa and Muscat Momjan, while viewing the cellar of Amphorae Malvasia 2015 and Amphorae Terrano 2015. From the older harvests we were offered a taste of Malvasia Unica 2010, Terrano 2011 and Dolce 2012.
Later on there was a vertical tasting of amphorae wines from all previous harvests in 2015, 2009, 2007, 2006, 2004 and 2003. Besides the amphorae wines, a special thrill was the king, sparkling Re as well as olive oils.
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