The second day of Zagreb Wine Gourmet Weekend started with an exceptional Masterclass workshop conducted by Isabelle Legeron. Most likely you are well familiar with her travel programme "Journey Into Wine" shown on Travel Channel, where she visits various countries and tells the stories of wine and wine tradition of these countries.
Isabelle's programme about Georgia was particularly successful, and she brought closer to an average European wine lover wines and wine tradition of this country which is regarded as the cradle of wine-making. Anyhow, in a conversation with Isabelle, we found out that an idea to make a similar programme about Serbian wines has been lingering in her head for quite a while, and we hope that in the period to come, conditions will be met so that we can welcome Isabelle and her crew in Serbian vineyards.
Until that moment, Isabelle continues working hard on promotion of natural wines. This segment of wine is still largely undefined, even to the extent that we still don't have a precise definition what natural wine stands for. Yet, principally, this wine is made with minimal chemical and technological intervention in growing grapes and making them into wine. Natural wine advocates define natural wine more by what is left out of the process than by what is put in. Ideally, no additives are used, although a dash of SO2 can be tolerated. However, there are several wine-makers who manage to produce excellent wines without any SO2.
The trend of natural wine is relatively new, but it is growing in importance. More and more wine-makers take up natural wine production.
In Zagreb, Isabelle chose to present a particular group of white natural wines from Italy, Slovenia and Croatia. More precisely, she focused on so-called "orange wines". Orange wine production is characterized by prolonged skin-contact during maceration for weeks and even months, so that wine absorbs colour pigment and tannins from skin and pips. These wines come from Slovenia (e.g. Vipava and Brda region), Italian regions of Friuli, Lazio and Umbria, and to limited extent in Loire region of France and California (USA).
Isabelle's choice of wines includes both those ageing in large barrels and those ageing in amphoras. Making wine in amphoras today is rather rare. Clay amphoras are produced only in the Caucasus (Georgia) and it is difficult to find a true craftsman who mastered the skill of making amphoras. Outside Georgia, there are about 10 wineries which make wine in amphoras. One of these is Croatian winery Tomac.
At Masterclass workshop, Isabelle presented the following wines:
- Terpin Pinot Quinto Quarto 2009
- Damijan Podveršič Bianco Kaplja 2008
- Čotar Vitovska 2007
- Batič Zaria 2007
- Mlečnik Chardonnay 2006
- Radikon Oslavje 2004
- Tomac Amfora 2007
At the second panel discussion, four Croatian wine-makers and olive oil producers (Duilio Belić, Miroslav Plišo, Ernest Tolj, Boris Šuljić) , who started production of wine and olive oil after successful careers in other professions (finance, legal, management), were presented.
It is interesting to mention that these representatives of wine makers spoke with a dose of sceptisism about the project "Vino Croatia" run by Tony Hodges.They suggested a better and more efficient approach i.e. bringing together 4-5 top wine-makers who would then exhibit together and represent Croatian wines on world fairs and wine events. Thus, a positive image about Croatian wine will be created worldwide, and with such image, small wine producers will be able to find their consumers and position on the market as well.
For the first time in Croatia, Zagreb Wine Gourmet Weekend organized Twitter tasting, where wine bloggers from Croatia and the USA tasted wine at the same time and posted comments on Twitter in front of audience in Zagreb and New York. This workshop demonstrated the power and capacity of social networks in wine promotion.
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