Tasting the wines of Croatia on land and sea. Modesto columnist offers his take
The Navigator and I spent most of March cruising the Adriatic Sea and visiting Croatia, Slovenia and Montenegro. It wasn’t because “Game of Thrones” was filmed in Dubrovnik or the fact that Dr. Carol Meredith, a UC Davis professor discovered that California’s Zinfandel is identical to Croatia’s Tribidrag and also happens to be the parent grape of Croatia’s most popular red wine, Plavac Mali. Or the fact that Croatian-born Miljenko ‘Mike’ Grgich, who produced the winning Chardonnay at the 1976 Judgment of Paris went back to Croatia in 1996 and started a winery dedicated to producing the finest wines with Dalmatian grapes, Plavac Mali and Posip.
We went to Croatia, Slovenia and Montenegro because we wanted to take in the beauty of the clear water and the rugged coastline of the Adriatic Sea. We wanted to enjoy the safety of these young democracies and the friendliness of their people. We wanted to enjoy docking and visiting seven medieval stone walled cities on our 50 passenger ship M/W Athena with 21 crew members spoiling us for 10 days. Oh yeah, we did taste our share of the local wines.
In 2022, Croatian wines achieved their greatest success in the prestigious Decanter World Awards, considered the gold standard for the global wine industry. Croatia scored three platinum and 16 gold medals and can now consider itself a major wine producer in the region. It has many indigenous grape varieties that are not well known partly due to their complicated names. Try saying these wines (real fast!), Zlahtina, Grk, Istarska Malvazija and Kujundzusa. In Croatia, wine is either red (crno), white (bijelo) or rose (crveno) and dry (suho) or sweet (slatko).
The house wines on the Athena were Croatian, a Merlot (yes!) and a Grasevina (think Riesling) and quite good. They also offered 10 bijelos and 10 crnos wines for purchase, and of course we did. On land, we tasted at several wine bars, two small wineries and even some homemade wines at two home visits. All were very “dobar”! Here are four wines we liked; Grk (just pronounce the three letters in a row), a dry white with notes of white pepper, melon, and pears. Posip, a full-bodied white with crisp flavors of apples, vanilla, spice and citrus. Teran, an earthy, full bodied, robust red with flavors of berries and violets. Plavac Mali, a rich red wine with flavors of blackberry, pepper and spice, the most popular red of Croatia. The trip was fantastic. All we can say is Hvala Croatia!
Calaveras Spring Wine Weekend
Wine lovers can explore Calaveras Wine Country on April 27-28 at the Spring Wine Weekend. One-day and two-day tickets are available and include a commemorative wineglass, a wristband for special tasting flights at 20 participating tasting rooms, access to live music/special events and a weekend guide with maps.
Wineglass/wristband/map pickup starts at 10 a.m. at the Murphys Information Center at 202 Main St. and 10:30 a.m. at select tasting rooms on both days. The event wraps up at 5 p.m. each day. For tickets, www.calaveraswinegrapealliance.ticketspice.com.
What’s on our table
The Best of Class Pinot Noir winner under $18 in the recent S.F. Chronicle Competition was the 2021 Chloe from Monterey County. I tracked it down at Target for $14.99. It’s a well-balanced wine and made my list of wines under $15. The 2021 Cloudline Willamette Valley Rose of Pinot Noir is one of the best pinkies I’ve tasted this year. It’s bottled by Cloudline Cellars from Dundee, Oregon, a Drouhin Family brand. I bought a case ($60) at the Grocery Outlet. Zivjeli!
Questions? Comments? Find me on Facebook or at rgwinton@yahoo.com.
