Croatia in Colour

Four Soils

Four Soils
(Photo credit: thirstforwine)

We were introduced to Istria, this beautiful corner of Croatia on the Adriatic coast, as the "land of the four soils", and it is very hard to move in food and wine circles here without hearing the colourful refrain of "Red, White, Grey & Black". These are in fact only half the story, because in Spring, the country is also alive with yellow and white flowers, pink peach blossom, green grass, blue seas and purple and orange sunsets. However, we were here for just three days to focus on the soil, and its effect on the wines, foods, traditions and personalities of Croatia.

RED

The first-time visitor's first impression HAS to be the Red. "Wow, look at that soil!" I exclaimed, unaware of the initiation I was to receive over the next few days. We were on our way to visit Roxanich, the increasingly well-known producer of some fantastic, but also challenging wines. The red vineyard soils, delineated by green grass borders and yellow accents, screamed for attention through the bus windows.

Red Soil

Red Soil (Photo credit: thirstforwine)

The wines, it turned out, have the same strong personality, solid confidence and masculine charm of their wine guide (I hesitate to say 'maker' as it implies more manipulation) Mladen Roxanich, and his team. In their youth, his wines seem quiet, understated, somewhat enigmatic, but as they mature, the wines - particularly the white wines, are transformed into charming, lithe and confident individuals. Roxanich achieves this by the somewhat controversial technique of extended maceration, leaving the juice from the grapes in contact with the skins for incredibly long periods - from 20 to over 170 days (compared to mere minutes or hours for most white wines), particularly for the local hero, the Malvazija Istriana of Malvazija Istarska. This is, in his view, the best way to express the uniqueness of the soil, the grape variety and the vintage, and these views are strongly held.

His wines do not have the fresh, primary fruit we might normally look for in a white wine made from a crisp grape such as Malvazija, and instead, develop an amazing range of "secondary" flavours of dried fig fruit, wild herbs, honey while retaining a fresh minerality, perfect complements to the range of Istrian salami and other dried meats shining bright red on the plates in front of us. These are spectacular examples of what a complex wine can be, but in a fashion that the average wine drinker will probably not have experienced.

The reason, at least in part it seems, is that these red soils do not retain much water, forcing vines to dig deep roots and fight for water and nutrients deep down in the earth. This dry soil is something we then experienced first-hand later that afternoon in the newly planted vineyards belonging to Bruno Trapan. It cost him a fortune to clear a small patch of land of enough rock to be able to plant a new vineyard, and today the spindly young vines appear to stick out in desperation from a sea of reddish brown instant coffee granules, such is the consistency of the soil. Trapan's wines from these soils also show interesting minerality, but he chooses to express this through slightly more traditional crisp citrus and white floral wines, and some rather tasty, plummy and bright red wines, the star of which was a juicy young Teran. This is a local red grape that seems to capture the wild and rugged Istrian countryside well, with its bay tree hedges and other herb plants. Teran in general seems to have a green herbal bay and rosemary edge to the drier, plum and mulberry fruit, and seems to exhibit a spiky acidity that demands attention.

WHITE

White Stone

White Stone (Photo credit: thirstforwine)

But not all is Red, as generous platefuls of White fish will attest. Nothing comes close to the experience of a 16+ course fish extravaganza at Konoba Batelina by David Skoko. This outwardly unassuming restaurant was packed and served course after course of delicious Istrian fish dishes to complement the Trapan wines. This was a fantastic meal and experience that all Croatian visitors should attempt to replicate if possible.

White was also the bright backdrop created by our docked ocean-liner designed 5* hotel, Hotel Lone (Rovinj), where we took over the Presidential Suite to taste the wines of Misal, and picnic on the vast balcony. There are very few sparkling wine producers in Croatia, so this one small winery and the two young, energetic sisters who run it, have taken it upon themselves to cover the entire gamut of styles, from bone dry, 'pas dose', through vintage wines all the way to sweet and even red sparkling wines, to ensure their largely local clientelle have a wine for all occasions. My favourite was the Misal Millenium Brut presented by winemaker Ana Peršurić. 

White stone was also everywhere, showing through in the rough fields that occasionally give way to small quarries. This marble-like stone is also present in the houses, but particularly the ancient cobbles of towns like Rovinj, and set amongst weather-worn town houses with their flaking white plaster and arches built by the Venetians centuries ago. We passed along these streets to find the wonderful hospitality of the Piassa Granda Wine Bar (another must-visit) to taste the wines of Gerzinic, Cossetto, Radovan and Rossi, and acclimatise our palates on arrival. We needed this preparation as some whites, like the Gerzinic and Radovan Malvazija wines showed fresh fruit, white floral notes and minerality, whilst others, such as the fabulous Cossetto Malvazija Rustica showed more banoffee pie or vanilla crème brulee notes, an unusual but rewarding taste. The surprises weren’t limited to the whites though, as I experienced something my notes describe as "the smell of red berry fruit soaking in fresh blood from raw steak" from the Gerzinic Teran, accentuating the “funky” animal nature of this grape, but also a very drinkable juicy red fruit Radovan Merlot

GREY

Cellars at Piquentum

Cellars at Piquentum (Photo credit: thirstforwine)

Past the red fields, over the ancient white stone, lies the grey concrete of the wineries. While Croatia and Istria have been making wines for thousands of years, more recent politics & social upheaval have meant that the 50,000 hectares of vineyards that existed in the early 20th century have largely disappeared, and only recent growth has brought that number back to something like 5,000 or so hectares. Most wineries today are new constructions, and concrete is the material of choice.

There are the large, planned, modern and bespoke wineries such as Trapan or Cattunar, or the converted sheds of Roxanich, but there are also the quaint places like Piquentum’s converted, reinforced concrete water bunker. These underground cellars were once fortified military water stores for local barracks, and they have made a surprisingly chilly but productive space for Dimitri Brečević, a half French & half Croatian winemaker who trained in Bordeaux but is making his home in Croatia. Like many others like him who are new arrivals to an area, he makes a great ambassador for his town of Buzet, and for Istria, because he has gone out of his way to study the history, the language and the traditions. His winery is small, but he is doing great things with Malvazija and Teran, which we were lucky to try at Nono on arrival in the country, as well as a delicious Refosk we tasted still in barrel.

BLACK

Fun with wine and oil

Fun with wine and oil
(Photo credit: thirstforwine)

But like all good days, we finish with late, great, dark evenings and ultimately the Black of night (inevitably, it seems there is always extended “socializing” late into the night on such trips, and we saw more than our fair share of starry nights). One of these was spent in the incredibly generous company of Chiavalon who make olive oil so good, you can just about drink it on its own (which we did) but who also offered an amazing array of dishes using their oil to match wines from some of the dark horses of the Croatian wine world: Coronica and Clai. We also got a chance to stumble around a small part of their olive farm in the black of night to see the newly arrived pig & piglets who will be clearing and fertilizing the ground.

Back at the dinner, we tasted wines made in very different styles by friends and neighbours Giorgio Clai and Moreno Coronica. All the wines were expressive and really did speak of something uniquely Croatian, but as before, I was really impressed by the Clai wines in particular. His Ottocento white was soft, with huge body and complexity and some rose petal notes. The Ottocento 2010 red was still bright and very young, but tasted like a berry salad, with some tart red currant, and also some herbal and mineral notes.

Each and every winery showed us something new about the country, and 3 days was not a long time to discover a whole new food & wine culture that I knew nothing about, but it was certainly long enough to know that Croatian wines will feature heavily in my future, and that extended skin maceration for whites is not madness, but an inspired tool for winemakers deserving further research.

Thank you again to Pacta Connect for organizing the trip (if you fancy following in our footsteps, they are organizing consumer wine trips to Croatia). Thanks also to a fantastic group of fellow wine adventurers – Joe Wadsack, Tara Devon O’Leary, Christina Pickard, Niamh Shields, Douglas Blyde, Fiona Beckett,  Donald Edwards, Tamlyn CurrinSimon Woolf and Matthew Lee.

Lots more photos (full set) here:

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Exploring Laithwaites' Eastern Promise

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I was very excited to be invited to a wine bloggers' tasting recently with a bit of a difference. This one was hosted by Laithwaites, in their swanky showroom under the railway arches next to Vinopolis in London. However, the unique opportunity was to meet Tony Laithwaite in person, something I gather he rarely does.

This is a man who has been working with wine for over 40 years - doing the hard bit of getting wines from cellars and into the hands of customers. Parts of the wine business may be developing and changing very fast these days, but over 40 years of experience, and of leading and innovating most of that time, does result in a certain amount of wisdom. 

I have been in the wine business for a few years now, and I've met some very famous people in the trade. It is still a bit strange to taste alongside someone like Jancis Robinson and talk about twitter for example, or to chat regularly with people whose faces most people will only have see on television, like Olly Smith, Tim Atkin or Oz Clarke, but even if in a small way, we are all in the same business - wine communication. There is always something different about meeting well known characters from other parts of the wine business, such as winemakers or retailers.

Unsurprisingly, I guess, Tony Laithwaite turns out to be very much like his image. Laithwaites and its vast sales empire do trade off the image of the man who travelled around the world picking up small parcels of wine to hand-sell in the UK, but you can still see the personal commitment of the man himself, and his enthusiasm for the wines even if there is now a team of wine buyers and wine makers in the business. He still buys & sells the wines, and has recently started blogging and tweeting his thoughts from around the world. 

I had a great chat with Tony, and his wife Barbara, about Turkey, Bulgaria (where I lived for a year and where they'd been some of the earliest to list wines from) and all sorts of aspects on online wine communication. I should say that Laithwaites are a sponsor of the Born Digital Wine Awards that I co-organise through Vrazon, and we did cover some of the goals we share, but the discussion was informal, fun, and very casual.

The main reason for being there that night was to join fellow wine bloggers to taste through a range of Laithwaite's wines from unusual sources, including Turkey, Greece, Georgia and India - plus they then added a couple extras from Hungary, Moldova, Bulgaria and Romania. What wine adventurer could resist?

Mantra Sauvignon Blanc 2009 - INDIA (£8.99)
This was an interesting take on Sauvignon Blanc and dispelled my fears (to be honest) of tasting a wine from India. The taste was pleasingly tropic and citrus, with some grapefruit and lime. It lacked a little zip and isn't cheap at £9 but how many Indian wines can people say they've tried? Could be a great one for a surprise at a party.

Thema Assyrtiko Sauvignon Blanc 2011 - GREECE (£11.49)
This is a fresh, crisp wine with "mouth-puckering" acidity, but there was a tasty pithy citrus as well as a hint of honey/nutty note. I'm not sure I wouldn't have preferred it to be 100% Assyrtiko (a native grape, unique to Greece) and once again, the small production means the price is not cheap. However, Greece does make some lovely wines that consumers really ought to try, so maybe a few Sauvignon Blanc lovers will give this a go as their stepping stone.

Vinart Kalecik Karasi Syrah 2010 - TURKEY (£10.99) [not on sale yet]
The Kalecik Karasi grape is steadily becoming a favourite in this household as I try to taste as many examples from Turkey as I can. This wine is a blend of this native Turkish grape with Syrah and is maybe a more softer and more international in style than some I've tried, but the red fruit and plummy style would probably make an unusual complement to grilled meats and BBQs even in the UK. 

Tbilvino Saperavi 2010 - GEORGIA (£8.99) [not on sale yet]
The cheapest, but possibly most interesting wine in this group. This is inky dark stuff, with purple, plummy fruit and some leafy green herbal hints too. The deep, young tannins and acidity in this wine do scream out for a rarer meat or spicy tomato vegetable partner to dance & tangle with ... and when it does, I suspect you'll find it as unusual and exciting experience.

I also enjoyed the second group of wines which, once again were from unusual places, but worth travelling to (at least from bottle to bottle) and here are a couple of favourites:

Albastrele Pinot Grigio Cahul 2010 - MOLDOVA (£7.79)
I very rarely would recommend a Pinot Grigio, and I'm sure that in time we will discover that Moldova offers some unique grapes of its own too, but this wine was surprisingly attractive, with a honeyed, herbal nose which was much more interesting than most watery stuff associated with this grape. The taste included some white flowers and pear fruit, very much as one might expect from Pinot Grigio's of a much higher price than this. Worth trying.

Colina Piatra Alba Pinot Noir 2009 - ROMANIA (£7.29)
Once again, the cheaper wines do well. It is very hard to get Pinot Noir wines at this price, but this simple, drinkable wine has pleasant wild strawberry and red fruit notes and a lighter body that would make it a fun wine to drink on a hotter day we hope to have this summer.

This was an interesting event for meeting people and exchanging reminiscences, and learning about some new places that wine drinkers can choose to explore. The wines are maybe a little expensive for what they offer today, but volumes are still small and there are always ways with retailers to get deals, so you might be able to reduce these a bit. 

However, wine should also be about exploration and unusual experience, not just cash, so if you're looking for a bit of a change and fancy heading East this year, I hope you find something to your taste.

For some others' takes on this tasting, check out these posts:

Spring wines you really need to try from @thewinesociety

I am a regular attendee at The Wine Society (TWS) Press Tastings - they serve a useful double purpose; a chance to find interesting wines to recommend to the world at large ... and a shopping list exercise for me too (as a member).

I was expecting to have to miss the Spring tasting which took place last week, but I'm very glad I didn't.

The truth is that even as a regular wine drinker and someone who has done some wine tasting in his life ... I find the complete TWS list daunting. With thousands of wines available, how are you to find something unless it is recommended or you are looking for it particularly? I have to say I often take the easy way out and try a mixed case - and I recommend this as a great way to get to know the list in more detail.

Well, these tastings focus on new listings and new vintages, so the Buyers have done a lot of the work for us, so it is always worth a shot.

The result was a long list of wines that will be going on my personal shopping list as soon as they are in stock, so here are some of my favourites in case you are tempted to join me.

WHITES

Jordan Estate Barrel-fermented Chenin Blanc, Stellenbosch, South Africa - 2011 - £8.75 [details here - not yet on site]

"Barrel fermented" wines can often lose any unique character of where the wine comes from or the grape it is made from and end up tasting similar. No worries here. I thought this was delicious, with lively acidity (I wrote "tinglingly fresh") but an all-round tasty wine. 

Saarburger Kabinett Riesling (Zilliken), Germany - 2011 £16.00 [details here - not yet on site]

A bit pricey, but good German wines are, and if you are not sure about whether you "like" German Riesling then you need to try something like this to see what the fuss is about. "Amazing floral, fresh tangerine and green tea nose" say my notes, and if you like cooking, dig out a fish recipe with a hint of spice from Thailand or Korea to discover something amazing!

Concha y Toro Corte Ignacio Casablanca Viognier, Chile - 2010 - £8.50 [details here]

Some Viognier from warmer countries can be a bit overpowering and flabby, but this was delicate, frsh, tropical and rich. Lovely for a classy white for the dinner table.

REDS

However, my favourite wines on the day were for the red wines.

Viña Leyda Classic Reserve Syrah, Chile - 2010 - £6.50 [details here]

A bargain at this price. As well as the red fruit, this had an unusual orange zest on the nose which also brightened up the taste, because that zippy orange acidity made the red fruit & peppery notes even more lively. This may be one to have young, but a great outdoors wine, maybe for an early season BBQ.

Blaufrankisch, Ried Hochberg, Hans Igler, Austria - 2008 - £12.50 [details here]

This is no simple fruit-bomb - it combines ripe blueberry fruit with a savoury note and a hefty load of tannins, but a great foil for more robust meat dishes (don't skimp on the tasty fat). I've visited the Hans Igler winery and this is only one of a number of really interesting wines they make, and I'm happy to see them available in the UK.

Latria Garnatxa Carinyena, Montsant, Spain - 2006 - £7.50 [details here]

The story goes this is a more expensive wine, labelled under a "second label" to shift the wine and get the cash. One hears these marketing stories from time to time in wine, but in this case I can believe it. It has that "old Spanish oak" smell which many find appealing, but this wine is a lot more quality and interest than you'd expect from the price. Expect this to go fast.

Weinert Carrascal, Argentina - 2007 - £7.50 [details here]

Wow! This wine was right after a French wine from a famous region for 6 TIMES the price but totally owned it! A cigar box full of fruity treats! Great balance and complexity and with a bit more age than we are used to from Argentina (told you these wines would shine if someone would give them a chance!)

De Martino Viejas Tinajas Cinsault, Itata Valley, Chile - 2011 - £8.96 [details here]

My favourite wine, probably. A combination of unusual variety, amazing flavour, and this line from the tasting booklet: "Fermented for fun in amphoras". Well, amphoras are cool, and all the rage in certain quarters, but I'm not sure any winemaker does this "for fun". However, the result is delicious. Fresh, ripe, red berry and cherry fruit. One for the adventurer - including me.


I'll be looking forward to receiving these wines and seeing how they taste "in real life" and hopefully they will shine again. If you buy them, do let me know what you think ... and if you want to know a little more, check out this video about The Wine Society wine community I helped make for them some time ago

.. and you don't just need to take my word for it, here are some other views:

Susie & Peter (them off the telly) - Wines of the Week 3

Earlybird Wine News - Wine Society Winners

On the dismemberment of UK wine drinkers

I'm looking for a graphic artist - probably someone familiar with the more modern graphic and explicit comics, that can bring to life a vision I have in my head.

This vision concerns the UK wine consumer in 2012 as we look forward to the government's latest budget announcement in 2 days.

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(image from term "Dismemberment" on Wikipedia)

This vision has the poor consumer in the middle of the scene, possibly with a bottle of wine lying by his side, fallen and draining away, unappreciated and now forgotten.

The poor consumer is, to be frank, being tortured to death for having chosen to spend his limited income on wine instead of, let's say, illegal (untaxed) drugs or licensed medical procedures, claimed through expensive health-insurance, to deal with stress.

Attached to one leg is a huge, dark, muscular horse with supermarket branding all over it, being driven on by a suited investor, pockets bulging with cash and keys to a porsche.

Attached to the other leg via a heavy chain, is an old-fashioned weighty metal anchor, firmly dug into the ground at the point on a line, divided in £1 price increments, marking the value of £4.99

On the other end, dragging one arm in a third direction, are the Chancellor and the Treasury, desperate to find a way to balance their market scales with a heavy sackful of debt on the other side. All the time, a Doctor is inserting a needle in the outstretched arm in some vain attempt to pretend that this is actually part of a healthy medical procedure, not torture.

Finally, on the last limb, straining yet managing to hold on to an empty wine glass, we have a collection of wine makers tugging on the arm in a desperate struggle with each other to be the ones to pour their wine in the man's glass while simultaneously lecturing him about the "uniqueness" of their offering and berating him for not paying attention.

The closest I could come was the image above.

It's rather specific, but I think there are people out there who might recognise the feeling.

Any help appreciated. 

Now, back to being quartered.