Half way through my trip to Croatia in October 2011 my Lumix digital camera died. Actually it was the battery; it would no longer hold a charge. So I tossed the camera into my bag and used my iPhone for the rest of the trip. This week, more than a year later, I finally got a new battery and what a surprise when I turned the camera on and found Croatia lingers on in several hundred photos and a few video’s I completely forgot I'd taken.
Oh Croatia, you really got under my skin. And seeing these pictures makes me fall in love with you all over again. Luckily, I'll be visiting you again soon in March for the 2013 International Wine Tourism Conference and Workshop in Zagreb. I'm looking forward to rekindling our romance.
Here are some highlights from my lost “film roll" plus a lost video from the 2011 Chiavalon olive oil harvest in Istria. You can click on the headings below to bring up the related posts.
L to R-- Me, Lavinia Spalding, Kimberley Lovato
My fellow travel writers - we are actually triplets separated at birth.
Be still my heart. The outstanding food pairings presented at Bibich winery was a rare event, not usually available to the general public. But the fabulous wines are available in the U.S. from Blue Danube Wine Company so you have no excuse not to try them. The pictures I took below are the same as the pairings Anthony Bourdain was so effusive about on his last season of No Reservations.
They say the best wine often comes from vines that struggle. The effort put out by vines to find water in arid climates or dry-farmed regions makes the grapes that much better. Well the same must be true of sheep. The island of Pag is one of the most rugged and beaten down places I've ever visited. It looks like the Alps melted into the island, leaving just the rocky barren tops visible. And it's here that the special herds of sheep struggle against the elements on a daily basis and make one of the greatest cheeses in the country. These sheep must be like the terriers of the sheep world, they are tough and don't give up easily. I don't quite understand how such restricted diet and harsh conditions creates sheep with a milk that has a high fat content. One would think it would be the opposite, thin, almost fat free milk. But that's not the case with the sheep from Pag. They are small, compact and high fat. Sort of like me.
When we crossed the bridge leading to Pag the famous Bura/Bora wind kicked up, so we got out to take a look or have a feel as it were. Yowza! That was some intense wind. Signs were rattling like something out of Close Encounters and the sea was whipping about as if a huge eggbeater was being used from above. You could see patches of white water roiling like furious mini dust devils. I could barely stand upright, and as I made my way back to the van a man came out of a stone building near the bridge. I asked him if the ripping wind was normal for the time of year. "This is nothing!" he said. Apparently it was a mild day in Pag.
I first became acquainted with Paški Sir when I hosted my Wines of Croatia tasting. US importer, Michele Buster of Forever Cheese, arranged for me to get the cheese locally in St. Helena. The cheese was one of the big hits of the day-- pairing well with both white and red wines and exceptional on its own. It's a hard cheese, but very rich and tangy with little white granules of tyrosine that crunch in your mouth, giving it a sensation sort of like pop rocks.
Unfortunately we were running a tad behind schedule so we arrived quite late in the day to Paška Sirana, the oldest cheese factory on the island of Pag. Our hosts were wonderful and I realized what an effort they'd made to accommodate us when Nenad Škoda, who led the tour, mentioned that normally all production in the factory is usually completed by noon each day. That meant these lovely people had been hanging around most of the day just to show us the process live.
Prior to the tour we donned hairnets and coats to keep our bad bacteria away from the good cheese bacteria.
The dairy has grown from a small cooperative to the
largest company on the island and it still makes the cheese using centuries old methods, but the new factory was built to meet the high standards of the
EU which Croatia is set to join in 2013. It remains to be seen what the effect of joining the European Union will have on their traditions, but they are prepared to meet the new EU requirements and preserve their heritage of cheese making at the same time.
The sheep of course are the center of the entire operation, and Paška Sirana manages a herd of around 3,500 that provide the milk daily. The rest of the raw milk comes from local farmers on the island. The most productive age of the sheep is between 3-8 years. After 9 years of age they more suited to being roast lamb. And roast lamb is king around the Croatian coast. We saw numerous road side spits, a few with actual lambs roasting inside, as we drove through several small towns. Mmmm.
After the factory tour we tasted several varieties of the cheese. I loved the new sage infused style, but it is not yet available in the US market. We were given samples of a new grated style of paški sir that looked like parmesan but with a more robust flavor.
This past week Paška Sirana won 4 medals at 2011 World Cheese Awards for their PAŠKI SIR, PRAMENKO, MEDITERANO and DALMATINAC cheeses. Congratulations to the entire team.
Although Paški Sir is not that common stateside, it can be found if you put some effort into your search. Be tenacious, like one of those hearty Pag sheep and I'm sure you will be successful. {Hint: contact Forever Cheese for help}
I'm back from Croatia and my head is spinning with all the amazing food and wine I experienced and the fabulous people I met. Before I even left the twitter support from the Croatian wine and food community was incredible. Special thanks to the Croatian Tourist Board for making the trip possible and also to:
I'm currently sorting through a pile of maps, notes, photos and videos as I prepare a series of posts dedicated to Croatia and the stories of the people who make it unique. -- So stay tuned for a wild romp though one of the most dynamic wine and food regions I've ever visited. In the meantime here is sneak peek of what's to come --
The wine and pairings at Bibich in Skradin
Tasting one minute old olive oil fresh from the press at Chiavalon in Vodnjan
Market shopping and cooking with chefs Robert Ripli and Grgur Baksic of Klub Gatstronomadi
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.
The excitement is building, the hashtag has been selected, the cheese has arrived, and the cards and letters keep coming in as the day draws near for the Wines of Croatia wine blogger tasting. For those who would like to follow along on Twitter on Sunday Aug 28th, the hashtag for the event will be #WoCroatia.
This week I picked up the Paski Sir cheeses from James at Sunshine Foods and it has been a struggle to keep from eating it before Sunday. I had a taste in the store and it is lovely. It's a sheep cheese and is similar to pecorino but with a salty nutty punch. Michele Buster was the first to source and import the Paski Sir from the island of Pag, and she arranged for me to get the cheese for the tasting. You can learn more about Michele and the cheese here in this article from the SF Chronicle.
Although the tasting is only a few days away we already have a post from WINEpiphany by Anthony Burich, one of the bloggers who will be attending. You can read Anthony's heartfelt post and excellent tasting notes on the Enjingi's Grasevina wine here.
In the meantime Frank of Blue Danube Wine Company, who will be presenting the wines has been preparing a list for the tasting. Here is a sneak preview.
1. CORONICA -- Malvasia--Istria 2009
2. KORTA KATARINA--Pošip--Island of Korčula 2008
3. KRAJANČIĆ--Pošip--Island of Korčula 2009
4. ENJINGI--Venje--Slavonia 2003
Graševina, Riesling, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, and Traminac
11. ZLATAN PLENKOVIĆ--Crljenak Kaštelanski--Island of Hvar, Makarska 2008
Plus there could be a few suprises! So follow the #WoCroatia hashtag on twitter and stay tuned for the post-tasting post.
Also, just to set the mood I’ve downloaded some Croatian folk music for the day. So barring any crazy weather or earthquake or wild locust attack, I think we are going to have a spectacular day of tastes from Croatia.
