From sparkling wine to predicates, that's what you could call a wine tasting at Pupitres, a Zagreb wine culture boutique organized by Tourist Boards of the Požega Slavonian County and under the guidance of the famous sommelier Jelena Šimić Valentić. Zlatna Slavonija in Zagreb presented itself with ten exceptional wines from the Kutjevo vineyard awarded with a large gold at Graševina Festival which takes place every year in this wine town.
///Graševine festival in Kutjevo showed the importance of the most widespread Croatian variety
What Burgundy and Bordeaux are to France, Kutjevo is to Croatia, it is there tradition of winemaking and viticulture more than 700 years long, ever since the Cistercians built the oldest wine cellar in this part of Europe in 1232. It also has the cellars of the most famous names on the Croatian wine scene, Legends and stories are associated with wines, and although there is no scientific basis that the quality of wine is influenced by meridians and parallels, perhaps it is no coincidence that 45,3 parallels pass through Kutjevo, the same one that connects the famous wine destinations of Piedmont, Val du Rhone, Oregon and the aforementioned Bordeaux.
The ultimate wine experience
First of all Maximo brut Kutjeva dd, the first Croatian sparkling wine created entirely from graševina using the classic champagne method, aroma of ripe apple and citrus notes, discreet floral component with traces of acacia, full in the mouth, fine, fresh pearls.
Then two great fresh Graševinas of completely different styles: Adžićeva from the location of Hrnjevac, clear golden-yellow color, ripe fruit aromas with a note of melon and sweet spices, soft body, full flavor and rich long finish and Galićeva light-yellow color with greenish shades, attractive floral aromas with slightly spicy herbal admixtures, elegant and drinkable, with a perfect balance of freshness and ripeness and gently accented acids.
Three aged wines followed: aromatic, rich Graševina Mihalj from 2020. oily structure, complex, attractive, harmonious and refined Krauthaker's Graševina Mitrovac from 2016. and layered, complex and refined Graševina De Gotho from 2020. Kutjeva dd, with a rich, intense flavor and a long finish.
The real sensation was amber Graševina from the Krauthaker Kuvlakha amphora in 2017., macerated for 45 days, aromas of candied orange and spices, extremely complex and extractive, filled in only a thousand bottles, and at the end three exceptional predicates of botrytic notes: exceptional Galić's election vintage 2018., white gold color, full, rich, intense, complex and strong body, harmonious Jakobović's optional 2019 berry harvest. intense and rich aroma, gentle honey notes and Perak's thick, almost syrupy 2018 ice vintage., fruity aromas, delicious, full of nutty...
Graševine went perfectly with Slavonian delicacies among which stood out the cold pressed white and black grape seed oil Kutjeva dd presented for the first time in Zagreb
Grand cru locations of Golden Slavonia
- With different styles, but with recognizable varietal characteristics, all ten Graševina are exceptional wines, harmonious, full-bodied, delicious, a real pleasure to drink, and the locations from which they come from Mitrovec, Hrnjevac to Mačovo brdo and Vetovo can easily be called Slavonic grand cru positions, concluded the sommelier Jelena Šimić Valentnić.
S about thirty wineries on three wine roads Požega-Slavonia County is a real little paradise for wine lovers. Along with the Kutjevo Vineyards, there are also the Požega-Pleternica and Pakrac Vineyards.
- Our vineyards are not only great food and wine destinations, but also attractive picnic spots crossed by cycling, hiking and walking trails. Continuous improvement of the quality of service, unification of various contents and increase in the number of accommodation capacities in the last few years have also influenced the significant growth of tourist traffic. That this destination is worth visiting is confirmed by the tourist figures, which are almost 50 percent higher than the memorable and reference year 2019, which makes this county record the most propulsive growth in the continental part of Croatia, pointed out the director of the TZ of the Požega-Slavonia County Maja Jakobović.
Photos: Borna Subota
