Last year’s harvest gives Malvasia wines exceptional potential En primeur hears
- by croatiaweek
- in Food & Wine
(Photo: Neven Jurjak)
More than seventy winemakers from Istria, Croatian Uplands (Bregovita Hrvatska) and Kvarner, excellent young wines and selected delicacies such as Istrian cheese and pršut – the 10th premiere wine tasting has ended in Zagreb
ZAGREB, 3 March 2022 – Owners of restaurants, wine shops, hoteliers, the most famous sommelier and wine journalists gathered at Hotel Esplanade in Zagreb on Wednesday for a one-day premiere of young Istrian Malvasia, Žlahtina and indigenous varieties of Croatian Uplands (Bregovita Hrvatska).
The 10th edition of En primeura traditionally brought about fifty winemakers from Istria, several from Kvarner and about twenty from Croatian Uplands (Bregovita Hrvatska) to Zagreb.
(Photo: Neven Jurjak)
Presenting the current vintage, while still in barrels, is nothing new in the wine world. This attractive wine gathering was introduced by the French, and ten years ago it was first brought to Croatia by Istrians who are once again announcing excellent wines.
(Photo: Neven Jurjak)
“Last wine year was favourable, we were surprised by snow and ice in early April, which is why the yield was slightly lower, but given the warm May and pleasant summer temperatures and nice and dry weather during the harvest, the grapes were of exceptional quality so the wines will be above all expectations,” Nikola Benvenuti, president of Vinistra, the association of winemakers and winegrowers of Istria, pointed out, and his words were confirmed by a tasting workshop of six Malvasias from different territories of the Istrian peninsula.
(Photo: Neven Jurjak)
Ezio Pinzan, head of agriculture of the Istrian County, who opened the event, did not hide his satisfaction with the young Malvasia, and Marko Miklaužić, a representative of the Bregovita Hrvatska Association of Winemakers and Winegrowers, pointed out that its members have better quality wines from year to year.
(Photo: Neven Jurjak)
Dragan Kovačević, Vice President of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce for Agriculture and Tourism, also confirmed that Croatian winemaking is moving in the direction of high quality.
(Photo: Neven Jurjak)
“Strengthening Croatian winemaking should go in two directions. On the one hand, it is necessary to raise the competitiveness of the wine sector, technological level, increase and enlarge areas, increase production capacity and reach at least 100 million litres per year, and on the other hand the state must invest more in wine promotion and marketing.
(Photo: Neven Jurjak)
We need strong national marketing modelled on neighbouring Hungary or Austria and an umbrella national marketing organisation, and the Croatian Chamber of Commerce is ready to take on such a role in order to better position our country on the international wine scene,” Kovačević said, adding that exports were also recovering.
(Photo: Neven Jurjak)
Following the foreign trade of wine on the level of the whole of Croatia, it is growing at a rate of almost 30 percent.
(Photo: Neven Jurjak)
Winemakers in Zagreb were saddened by the news that one of the most prominent Istrian winemakers, multiple Vinistra champion Marijan Arman, had recently passed away, so they paid tribute to him with a minute of silence.
(Photo: Neven Jurjak)
