Next weekend I'll be attending the Zagreb Wine Gourmet Weekend where I'll be on a Twitter Tasting Panel moderated by Cliff Rames. We'll be discussing the power of twitter and the influence of new technologies and social networks on the wine culture and conduct a live twitter tasting with U.S. bloggers and members of the live audience too.
It's not too late to jump on a plane and head to Zagreb and join us. But barring that, you can tune in to twitter on Saturday April 14th at 8am PST / 11am EST and follow the hashtag #WoCroatia and #ZWGW12.
We will be tasting Milos Plavac, Krajancic Posip, and Terzolo Teran. If you'd like to join in live with your own tasting notes you may be able to find the wines at your local wine shop, or you can order them via Blue Danbue Wine.
After the Wine Gourmet Weekend I'll be exploring the wilds of Istria (and wifi permitting) tweeting all my finds as we hike the trails, forage for asparagus with wolves and bears, sample traditional rakija recipes, and taste and drink our way around the tiny towns of the region.
What a day for Croatian Wine! I could never have predicted how a simple tweet would lead to one of the most fun, educational and incredibly delicious events I've ever had the pleasure of hosting.
Croatia has a wide range of grape growing areas but they are basically split into inland and coastal regions. Since the majority of the bloggers were unfamiliar with Croatian wines Frank decided to focus on the coastal region of Istria. And so for a few hours my deck in Sebastopol was transformed into an odd shaped yacht as we virtually cruised the Istrian peninsula and tasted wines from the countries many islands.
Frank proved to be a great guide on our journey as he led us through the tasting and provided extensive background information and details about the wines, winemakers and growing regions of Croatia.
Frank Dietrich leads the tasting
Early on the sun was bright and hot providing the perfect setting to taste the crisp and refreshing selection of whites:
CORONICA -- Malvasia--Istria 2009
KORTA KATARINA--Pošip--Island of Korčula 2008
KRAJANČIĆ--Pošip--Island of Korčula 2009
ENJINGI--Venje--Slavonia 2003
GRGIĆ-- Vina Pošip--Korčula Island 2009
A selection of the whites. The Grimalda was a special addition.
Previously I tried a different Enjingi Graševina, but this one was fuller bodied and more developed. All of the whites were outstanding, plus we tried a Rose from Korta Katarina that was a spicy delight. My favorite of the whites was the KRAJANČIĆ Pošip from the island of Korčula where apparently Marco Polo was born. Many of the wines we tasted were from Italian born winemakers and the connection to Italy is very strong historically as well. Below are some of my quick tweet impressions at the tasting.
My quick tweet notes on the whites
As the sun dipped westward and shade creeped overhead we turned our attention to the Reds which included the following:
TERZOLO--Teran--Istria 2008
BIBICH -- R6 Reserva -- Dalmatia 2008
MILOŠ--Stagnum Plavac Mali--Pelješac Peninsula 2005
KORTA KATARINA--Plavac Mali--Pelješac Peninsula 2006
SAINTS HILLS--Dingač Plavac Mali--Pelješac Peninsula 200
MARA POSTUP-- Plavac Mali--Pelješac Peninsula 2008
ZLATAN PLENKOVIĆ--Crljenak Kaštelanski--Island of Hvar, Makarska 2008
Selection of the Reds
I enjoyed the Bibich R6 Riserva, Korta Katarina Plavac Mali, and the Zlatan Plenkovic Crljenak Kaštelanski which is considerd to be the original Zinfandel. But the wine that most intrigued me was the MILOŠ--Stagnum Plavac Mali--Pelješac Peninsula 2005. This wine had a very deep purple color with the scent of rosebuds and a slight briny taste. Maybe that explains the claim that this wine pairs well with oysters. Oysters and red wine? I need to do some first hand research on that, but I have a feeling it could be true.
The Saints Hills Dingač Plavac Mali image seemed well crafted, maybe too crafted? I can just imagine the eye rolling and the "there-goes-the-neighboorhood" effect this could have on the wines of Croatia. But I think attention is good and if it gets the peeps drawn in then I think it bodes well for all the smaller producers and gives them a greater chance to be discovered by an enthusiastic audience that will want to travel the wine roads in Croatia.
Paski Sir upper right corner
In addition to the wines we had a special guest cheese-- The Paski Sir from the island of Pag pictured in upper right hand corner. Nutty and rich it was a great complement to the whites we tried and also a few of the reds. One of the bloggers, Anthony Burich who is actually Croatian, brought an unmarked bottle of Croatian olive oil too. I did not get the chance to serve it, but tasted it afterwards and was impressed by its distinct spicy and herbal notes. Very bright and delicious. Thanks Anthony!
A few of the "off list" selections Frank poured.
At the height of the event I took quick look at Tweet Reach which indicated that over 375 tweets had been sent with an exponential reach of over 100,000 impressions! The hashtag went on the generate more than 400 tweets and many impressions beyond that, as the metric was based on only the last 50 tweets at the time. But over all it was pretty impressive for a deck full of wine bloggers to create that much buzz for Croatian wines in one day. The RTs were fast and furious. Another cool way to view the tweets is through Revist a real–time visualization of twitter messages around a specific topic which shows a dynamic flow of the tweets and the connections as they happened. Check it out here.
A butterfly flaps it's wings in the Amazon and creates a tsunami in India. Ten monkeys with typewriters tap out a Shakespearean sonnet. A tweet about Croatian wine turns into a tasting. All of a sudden it seems the mysterious ways of the universe have converged to propel Croatian wine into the mainstream. Croatian wine is starting to make some waves.
Some of the biggest buzz I saw on twitter during the recent Wine Bloggers Conference in Virginia were the tweets from the night of the now infamous Room 606 Croatian Wine Tasting held by Cliff Rames.
All this synchronicity makes me think there is definitely something in the air. I had Croatia on my mind for quite a while and then, just like that, all the pieces fell into place and now I’ll be hosting a wine blogger tasting of Croatian wines on August 28 with Frank Dietrich of Blue Danube Wine.
Of course all the folks who have been championing the cause and tirelessly promoting Croatia and it’s wines knew it was only a matter of time before the rest of us caught on. But now things seem to be heating up and for the first time in a national wine publication Croatia takes the stage on the cover of Wine Enthusiast as reported here on the Wines of Croatia site.
In preparation for the tasting event and to get those attending up to speed, here is a short list of resources for more information on Croatian wine, food and culture:
