Croatia’s wineries garner a total 63 medals, with Veralda winery from Istria taking a coveted Platinum – Best in Show medal.
London, June 14, 2016: Decanter magazine, one of the world’s most respected wine publications, today announced the winners of the 2016 Decanter World Wine Awards. The competition, held each year in London, received over 16,000 entries from around the world. You can scroll through the lists of all winnershere.
With the judging completed, we are so happy and proud to announce that Veralda winery, located in Brtonigla in the Istria wine region, was awarded the coveted Platinum – Best in Show medal for its 2015 “Istrian” red – a wine produced from Teran (which Decanter refers to as Refosco) – in the Best Single Varietal red category. With 95 out of 100 points, Veranda “Istrian” was one of only 31 wines to receive the top tier Platinum – Best in Show prize!
The Czech Tourist Authority, in association with the Czech Association of Sommeliers and the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV), has announced the 4th Annual IceWine du Monde competition, which will be held in the historical chateau complex, Lednice, in Moravia, Czech Republic, from August 29 – 31, 2014.
According to the IceWine du Monde website, the goal of the event is to “conduct an evaluation and comparison of ice, straw and other sweet wines from various countries of the world on a high professional level”.
The competition is designated for sweet wines with a residual sugar content of minimum 45 g/l. The competition is not designated for fortified wines.
Wineries in Croatia that produce “Predikatno vino”, i.e.: Ice wine (ledeno vino), late harvest (kasna berba), botrytis selection (izborna berba; izborna berba prosušenih bobica), Prošek, or other sweet wines that meet the criteria are invited and encouraged to participate.
The deadline for winery registration is March 31, 2014, and the deadline for the entry of wines is August 08, 2014.
For more information and complete instructions for registration, please click on this link: http://www.icewine-du-monde.com/index.php?art=35 or contact Alena Badžgoňová at alena@icewine-du-monde.com.
Iločki Podrumi, located in the town of Ilok in the Srijem wine growing region of northeastern Croatia, administers one of the oldest wine cellars in Croatia, dating back to the 15th Century.
Iločki Podrumi produces wines made from graševina, traminac (gewürztraminer), chardonnay, frankovka (blaufränkisch), and cabernet sauvignon, as well as specializes in award-winning late harvest and ice wines.
In case you missed anything, here is a round-up of the latest links to the news articles, blog posts and videos that highlighted Croatia, its wine or wine culture.
More good news for the Croatian wines from the island of Hvar: Svirče Cooperative’s Ivan Dolac wines are awarded two gold medals at the 2012 Mundus Vini Biofach in Germany.
Chicago Foodies discover a “good, terroir-driven wine with a nice crispness and a respectable 12.8 percent alcohol” from Croatia in the Matoševic Alba Malvasia.
A nicely produced video about Istria by Freberg Production of Stockholm (mostly in Swedish but some English and Croatian). At the 4:12 mark there is a short profile of Kabola winery.
Find out which wines were the winners at the February 17, 2012 Croatian Wine Story festival in Imotski, Croatia – hosted by Udruga Mediterra and Grabovac Winery.
The Blind Tasting Club learn a thing of two from the label of a bottle of Blato 1902 Pošip and expect “to see a lot more good things coming from Croatia…”
Editor’s Note: With this report, Robert Parker’s influential “Wine Advocate” journal has published its first-ever review of a selection of wines from Croatia. The report and subsequent scores were written and posted by Neal Martin of www.wine-journal.com and www.erobertparker.com and are reprinted here with permission.
This is Part VI – the final installment – in our series of post from Mr. Martin’s report, presented here for informational purposes. The statements, suggestions and reviews contained herein are purely Mr. Martin’s work and are subject to copyright and may not be republished elsewhere without permission of the author.
Tasting Notes: Sweet Wines
2007 Daruvar Grasevina Izborna Berba Prosusenih Bobica – 88
This Grasevina is a selection of dried berries. It has a tight nose: tangerine, dried honey, white flowers and honeycomb. A viscous entry on the palate, well balanced with dried honey, creme brulee, toffee and apricot, just lacking a little poise and cohesion on the finish but good length. Tasted May 2010.
(photo courtesy of Badel1862)
2009 Krauthaker Grasevina Izborna Berba Prosusenih Bobica – 87
This lacks a little vigour on the nose that is intended to be TBA in style but not pulling it off in terms of purity or complexity. It’s a shame because the palate has an engaging fresh entry with yellow plum, honey, nutmeg and ginger, maintaining that freshness right to the end. Not quite there this time, but one to watch. Tasted May 2010.
Krauthaker's Grasevina sweet wine on the tasting menu of the Fat Duck restaurant
2006 Kutjevo Grasevina Izborna Berba Prosusenih Bobica – 89
This has a lovely, well-defined nose which is more Muscat than Grasevina: acacia honey, orange-blossom, quince and almond. The palate has a slight nuttiness on the entry counterpoising the thick honeyed fruit, good weight, just a little cloying towards the finish but I like the purity on the smoky finish. Tasted May 2010
2007 Ilocki Podrumi Traminac Ledena Berba – 85
This Slavonian Gewurztraminer icewine has a lucid golden colour. The nose is fresh and lifted with pineapple, honey, tangerine and lemon zest: good definition. The palate is well defined on the entry, very pure with lychee, pineapple and honey, but loses its way towards the finish, fading far too rapidly. Tasted May 2010.
2008 Mladina Traminac Ledena Berba – ?
Strange fruit salad nose, cloying palate dominated by residual sugar. Undrinkable. Tasted May 2010.
2008 Agrolaguna Muscat Ruza – ?
Weird nose of a Hornby train set: very metallic. That palate is barely drinkable, completely out of balance and volatile. Tasted May 2010.
2007 Bodren Chardonnay TBA – 83
From northwest Croatia, this Chardonnay TBA style wine is rather cloying on the nose: saccharine, unclean with some odd damp moss notes. The palate is better, cleaner and crisper on the honeyed entry but the finish is lacking purity and poise. Tasted May 2010.
Bodren's sweeties (photo by Cliff Rames)
2008 Bodren Cuvee Ice Wine – 88
This has a fresh, honeyed nose with acacia, honeysuckle and a touch of quince: good definition and purity. The palate has a honeyed entry with good acidity, nice sense of tension here with quince, peach and marmalade, very fine focus on the finish, not complex but certainly a level above other Croatian ice wines. Tasted May 2010.
2008 Tomac Riesling – 87
This sweet Riesling has a touch of lime, orange peel and butter on the nose. Vibrant grapefruit and mango dominated palate that could do with more harmony, but it has good length and clarity. Fine. Tasted May 2010.
2007 Tomac Amfora – 90
From North Croatia, this Chardonnay (50%) sweetie is blended with local varieties from the Plesivica region. It has a fine minerally nose with limestone, orange-blossom, lychee and gooseberry. Good definition. Ripe on the entry with touches of butterscotch, vanilla pod and frangipane. Very fine and intriguing. Tasted May 2010.
Tomac Amfora (photo courtesy Tomac winery)
2006 Kabola Amfora – 90
This Malvasia from Istria has a light nose of honey, melted butter and nutmeg, succinct and well defined. A touch of dried honey on the entry, waxy texture, hints of lanolin and hazelnut, leading to weighty, dried fruit, nectarine and smoke tinged finish. Very natural. Excellent. Tasted May 2010.
Clai Sveti Jakov (photo courtesy Clai winery)
2008 Clai Sveti Jakov – 89
An Istrian Malvasia with a very intriguing nose of dried honey, yellow flowers, musk and quince. For some reason, it brings to mind a perfume that my grandmother always wore (and nobody under the age of 70.) The palate is medium-bodied with a waxy entry, good acidity, dried fruit, nectarine, a touch of ginger and dried apricot. Nice weight and cohesion. Serve this slightly chilled.
Uncorking Croatia 