A couple of months ago, Janina Doyle of the Eat Sleep Wine Repeat contacted me to come on as a guest and talk about Croatian wines in the 247th episode of her podcast.
As is usually the case, the idea was to discuss all of Croatia, but the main focus ended up being on the coast, namely Dalmacija and Istra. This isn’t a surprise given that they’re some of the most visible regions due to the tourism numbers and they’re also where I often find myself tasting the most.
Beyond mistakenly calling Gianfranco Kozlović, ‘Gianluca’, there’s a great deal of time spent talking about the wines coming from Malvazija Istarska, Teran, Pošip, and of course Plavac Mali. All quality grapes that I go on at length about, especially as the quality overall has ticked up considerably in the last decade or so to the point where actual Grand Cru wines exist.
Doyle did a wonderful job of editing it down into a concise overview including a small degree of touching on the interior. This meant discussing the Plešivica region where my family is originally from and where the best sparkling wines in the country are produced–although most everyone, everywhere seems to produce a bit of bubbles these days.
I’m quite happy with the results and recommend that if you’ve 45 minutes to spare, have a listen and enjoy. Below, for paid subscribers, I’ve included recent vintages of the wines discussed on the program, along with scores and tasting notes that were culled from both the last Croatia Report as well as the North Adriatic Report.
As I’m about to head to Croatia again to research the newest version of the report all fans of Croatian wines should stay tuned and subscribe to the newsletter if not already in the know.
