It is a quirk of the international wine map that wines from vineyards as far afield as the southern valleys of Australia and the foothills of the Andes enjoy a global reach, while wineries in what could be described as classical Europe (the western Balkans and Eastern Europe) go relatively unnoticed.
This despite the fact that many of those countries boast wine-making lineages of more than 2,000 years. In the case of Croatia, that history has even influenced Californian wine making. In 2001, researchers at the University of California at Davis and Croatian scientists, using DNA profiling, determined that the first Zinfandels—California's most famous grape variety—were grown not from clones planted in Austria or Hungary, as previously thought, but from the town of Kaštela on the Dalmatian coast.
Drinking Now
[drinking now]
Merlot
Roxanich, Istria, Croatia
Vintage: 2006
Alcohol: 13.5%
Price: Ł20, or €23
For those who enjoy Merlot but prefer it in the style pioneered by Bordeaux, this isn't a bad bet.
It could be described as traditional or idiosyncratic —either way, I am a fan. Roxanich is a relative newcomer on the Croatian wine scene. The brainchild of Mladen Rožanić and winemaker Antun Banko, its origins date back to 2004. The Merlot has a brown hue, with a mature nose of plums and dark cherry, and that distinctive cedar character most commonly found in Bordeaux red wines. There is a nice acidity, with a distinctive dry, mineral touch also experienced in the estate's white wines. The tannins are quite soft and there is a suppleness to this wine.
Around the time of this discovery, I too was discovering the wines of Eastern Europe—by way of the Czech Republic, where I spent a summer teaching schoolchildren English. Having heard of my previous occupation as a wine merchant in London, the staff one night took me to the local cellars, where we sampled a number of smooth, spicy red wines with names such as St. Laurent, Frankovka and Zweigeltrebe, which, in beer country, tasted good. A few years later, further east, on Turkey's Lycian coast, I was introduced to the delights of the country's rich, dark Boğazkere grape variety, which married well with the local food.
Apart from those experiences, my acquaintance with these wine-producing lands has been relatively slight—until recently, when we were reintroduced. I had heard various snippets—mainly from non-Croatian winemakers—about the quality of Croatian wine, so I was intrigued to taste more. Although it was by no means a comprehensive tasting, rather an intriguing snapshot of what is available at the top end of the market, what I discovered were wines quite unlike any other.
In texture and taste, they felt authentic, removed from the polished, almost perfected wine-making styles found in commercial bottlings. Piquentum Malvazija 2010 is a white wine made by 32-year-old Dimitri Brečević. It displayed an unctuous, perfumed nose, with a slight tangy, apple-spice character. On the palate, it had a strong, dry, mineral, savory vegetal flavor—rather like a white wine, say a Grüner Veltliner, from Austria.
I was reminded of Italy's Josko Gravner, a producer who makes wines with a concentration and purity quite unlike any other in Friuli in the northeast of Italy, which isn't far from Istria, Croatia's celebrated coastal region. Istria is planted with around 3,000 hectares of Malvazija, a white grape variety that, in the case of western Istria producer Roxanich, produces a white wine with a copper gold color, an unusual nose with notes of marzipan, a slight sherried character and a tangy minerality.
Croatia has 12 wine-producing subregions spread across its coastal and inland regions, with more than 30,000 hectares under vine. The number of producers varies, but it is certainly in excess of 500 and one suspects there are many small, individual producers. The production is overwhelmingly white, based on unfamiliar grape varieties, such as Graševina and Malvasia, and the more well-known Chardonnay, Muscat and Riesling. For red wine, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir are planted, as are Plaval Mali and my old friend from the Czech Republic, Frankovka.
My first impressions are favorable. The whites I tasted showed real individuality, and Malvazija provides a welcome alternative to those tired of drinking Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. I was also impressed with the restrained take on well-know varieties such as Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Alcohol levels are high, so too are prices, which I suspect reflect the scale of the operations, which are small. But the fundamentals are there. With a climate similar to Italy and southern France, it isn't surprising that Croatia's wines are gradually receiving more international recognition. My hunch is that we will be seeing a lot more of these wines in the future and if you see them on a wine list or in the corner of a shop, I would try them.
Write to Will Lyons at wsje.weekend@wsj.com
