Erdutski vinogradi doo is the headquarters of the winery Erdut vineyard, one of the three Croatian vineyards that belong to the Podunavlje wine-growing region, which is located on a specific Danube meander, and this vineyard It hugs the Danube on three sides.
Erdut vineyards they own the largest vineyard in Croatia "in one piece" with an area of more than 400 hectares, and also the largest wine barrel in the world which is in active use volume of 75.000 liters. That barrel was made 33 years ago, and each barrel represents one Slavonian oak tree. It is six meters long and five meters in diameter.
A total was spent on its creation 109 Slavonian oak trees or an entire forest, and those trees are used to make barrels chained with 3,5 tons of iron. Given that the barrel is made of Slavonian oak in DIK Đurđenovac, it is a 50% Croatian product, which, in addition to (still) having the practical function of a figure, is also a work of art, because ten years after its production, it was decorated with a woodcut that was "responsible" for the sculptor. Mato Tijardović, founder of the colony of naïve sculptors in Ernestinovo, which will celebrate its XNUMXth anniversary next year.
On August 11, starting at 12:XNUMX p.m., an appropriate ceremony was held in the Erdut vineyards, attended by representatives of the winery and journalists. marked the beginning of the wine from this unique barrel and filling a batch of 100 bottles of wine that will soon be on the market, numbered from 000 to 1 and labeled "Grand barrel".
We are talking about Graševina, vintage from 2020, which, after the initial aging in stainless steel barrels, was aged for another year in this gigantic barrel. Given that their annual production is 2,5 million liters of wine, and 70% of the production refers to Graševina, it can be said that it is a limited series, and the mentioned Graševina will have 13% alcohol and 6 grams of total acids, he revealed to us chief oenologist of Damir Risek winery who has been engaged in the Erdut vineyards for the last three years, and before that he also worked for a number of years in other large wine systems, such as Đakovo wines.
Mr. Risek emphasized the benefits of aging wine in a barrel when it comes to the quality of the final product, that is, the process microoxygenation which then takes place, i.e. the addition of small, controlled and continuous portions of oxygen to the wine with the aim of improving its quality.
- We are currently in the phase of final preparations for the harvest. The parameters of the wine we are monitoring are very good, and we expect a good, if not excellent, harvest in 2020. Given the weather conditions and the lack of precipitation, the yields will be somewhat reduced, but this will not affect the quality. We are a large producer, in recent years we have planted a lot of new vineyards and we will not find ourselves in a situation where we do not have enough wine for the market, said Risek.
Nina Viljanac from the marketing of the Erdut vineyards revealed to us that the famous Erdut barrel, i.e. its viewing, will soon become a standard part of the winery's tourist offer, and it will be possible to visit without prior notice every Friday from 12 noon, and the public will be informed about all the details of the visit to this unique tourist-wine attraction in the near future to be informed via the winery's social networks.
- We have another news. At the beginning of September, we put a new wine on the market - Pinot grigio limited edition, vintage 2021. It is about semi-dry wine with 14% alcohol. Considering that it is a limited series of about 5000 bottles, we decided to present this wine with a new label that deviates from the previous visual identity of our bottles, and it shows the sunset over the Erdut tower. Our intention was to make a wine for a female audience, but of course all wine lovers can enjoy it. Although it has a pronounced percentage of alcohol, this wine is extremely drinkable and light. We recommend it with soft cheeses, chicken and white fish.
Oenologist Damir Risek added to that by emphasizing that until now they only had dry Pinot Grigio, and for the first time now they have semi-dry Pinot Grigio.
- We went for a change in the harvest period, maximum ripening in the vineyard and we got an exceptional wine with over 14% alcohol and 11 grams of unrefined sugar which got good results in all competitions, so among other things it was also in the prestigious evaluation The world of wine won a silver medal, emphasizing the changes in the varietal composition of the plantations, not only in the production process, and the fact that in two years Erdutski Vinogradi will also market its first sauvignon blanc.
Photographs: Mario Jukic