Bounce Magazine October 2018

FOOD & DRINK
OCTOBER 2018 OCTOBER | ISSUE 2018 #72 | ISSUE | FOOD #72 & DRINK
Climate and geography...
Lying along the Adriatic Sea, the coastal
vineyards have the benefit of the cooling effect
of the sea and those inland find a hotter climate.
Many areas along its coastline have many hours
of sunlight, ideal for grape growing. Inland there
are mountainous regions having cold winters and
hot summers, plus enough rain to make grape
growing successful. One other product coming
from the area is oak, which is used for wine casks.
Wine Styles...
There are two distinct regions in Croatia
producing wine. The Inland continental climate
region in the North-East producing rich fruity
white wines similar to Slovenian,
Austrian and Hungarian wines. More
individual wines are produced
using local grape varieties
laying along the coastal areas.
Wine Regions...
CONTINENTAL CROATIA
This area stretches North-West
to South-East along the Drava
and Sava rivers with cold winters and
hot summers. The best known area is probably
Slavonia producing light, crisp, refreshing and
slightly aromatic wine from the Grasevina grape.
Other sub-regions number 6 in all.
COASTAL CROATIA
This region runs from Istria in the north to
Dalmatia in the south. A more Mediterranean
climate, long hot and dry summers and mild,
short and wet winters. Great for wine production.
Fruity dry whites from a variety of grapes. The
grapes are mostly Malvasia but also the red
Teran and Plavic Mali. The region is divided into 5
parts including Istria, Croatian Coast and 3 parts
of Dalmatia. After joining the EU they had to
divide Croatia into 3 regions, Eastern Continental
Croatia, Western Continental Croatia and Coastal
Croatia. These were then also divided into their
own sub-Regions
Grape Varieties...
Croatian grape variety names are difficult for
us to understand and even though many classic
grape varieties from the rest of Europe are used
they stick by their indigenous varieties.
Rightly so as they produce some extremely rich
wines. Some such are Plavac Mali, Postup,
Dingac and Zlatan Plavac.
Indeed it was felt that the Zinfandel
was descended from the Plavac Mali,
but DNA testing has now proved
that Plavac Mali is in fact a child
of the true Zinfandel from Croatia
called the Crljenak Kastelanski (Gulp).
Also included in this discussion is that the
Zinfandel is also the Primitivo, a popular and
successful Italian grape.
Following devastation caused by Phylloxera in
the late 1800’s vines in Croatia have to be grafted
onto American rootstock like almost the rest of
the world, in order to survive.
Although some of the grape varieties grown in
Croatia can be confusing they produce some
great wines and should be added to the vast pool
of top varieties that we make our wine from.
Conclusions...
Trying to remember the names though is difficult, it took me long enough to learn of the
Zinfandels true name but I enjoy it better now that I can pronounce it. Enjoy yet another
adventure into the world of wine.
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