Feravino Winery: From Frankovka To Torn Underpants

Continuing our exploration of the region of Slavonia, while touring Croatia, we stopped in the village of Feričanci, located in the Osijek-Baranja county, to visit Feravino Winery. Cistercians were some of the first to plant vineyards in this region, although the winery's oldest cellar only extends back to 1804. In the 1960s, the winery was owned by a large company but around 1996, the winery was sold and came under private ownership, with the new name of Feravino Feričanci. 

The winery now owns about 160 hectares of vineyards, over three primary locations including Feričanci, Zoljan and Ceremošnjak. They recently planted approximately 63 hectares with new vines. They have in the past few years been investing lots of money, at least about 7 Million Euros, into the winery, to modernize and expand. It is a time of change for the winery, as it attempts to meet and overcome the current challenges of the wine industry. 

They consider themselves "the biggest small winery, " and have an annual capacity of 700K-800K liters, roughly 80,000 cases of wine. The huge tanks pictured above are used for producing Sparkling wine in the Charmat method. They also have numerous small tanks for experimentation, including working on producing amber wines. 

Their primary two grapes are Graševina and Frankovka (Blaufränkisch), although they grow numerous other grapes, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir, Syrah, and Zweigelt. They stated they were the first winery in Slavonia to plant Graševina. It's interesting to note that now, about one in every 5 wines produced in Croatia is Graševina. Their production is basically split 50/50 between white and red wine. Besides the still wines, they make Sparkling Wines and Ice Wine. As they stated, if you "make great grapes, you produce better premium wines."

Most of the oak barrels used in the winery are Slavonian oak, sourced from forests near the winery. This is what they refer to as "barrel terroir," indicative of the land surrounding the winery. There is also a cooperage only about 12 km from the winery. Local is very important to them. They do use a small amount of French and American oak barrels, and conduct experiments with a variety of different oak products, but Slavonian oak dominates at their winery.

The winery possesses the first bottling machine in Slavonia able to bottle both still and sparkling wines. The video above shows part of the bottle line preparing sparkling wines. The machine can prepare about 900-1000 bottles and hour, and it was fascinating to watch the process.  

Their oldest cellar, from 1804, contains about 200 barrique for red wines. In addition, part of the old cellar was once used for spirits and they would like to create a distillery in the future. They also want to create a tasting room and show room for consumers 

The winery has been engaging in intense analysis of their business and the market, attempting to identify issues and how to resolve them. For example, they indicated that they have a reputation for producing mostly industrial wines and they need to find ways to attract younger consumers. Changes are needed to respond to market challenges, such as the fact that wine consumption in Croatia is generally stagnant and many consumers are becoming increasingly demanding. It was enlightening for the winery to share such matters with us. 

After this intensive analysis, they declared that their new strategy would be: "A modern winery with best red wines in Slavonija, based on principles of sustainability and social responsibility which boldly delivers excellent innovative wines that come from the vineyard of the Ergovic family located in Fericanci wine growing area."

One change they have instituted is a rebranding of their labels, and in 2021, the main label of "Enosophia" was established, which refers to "wine wisdom. 

We began out tasting with some bubbly, the "Nice To See You." a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir produced by the Charmat Method and with a 11.5% ABV. The label is fun and festive, obviously intended to appeal more to younger consumers. The bubbly was dry, easy drinking and refreshing. A fun wine for every day. 

The Today Rosé is another fun wine, made from Frankovka and with an 11.5% ABV. Dry, crisp, easy drinking and fruity nose with pleasant strawberry notes. 

We then moved onto more serious wines, such as the 2021 TRS No.5, produced from 100% Graševina and with a 12.% ABV.  With an appealing fruity nose, the wine was bright, fresh, crisp, dry and delicious, with interesting notes of apples, lemon, and citrus. It was a more elegant wine, fine to consume on its own, or with a variety of foods, from seafood to chicken. 

The 2019 Miraz Grasevina is also made from 100% Graševina and has a higher ABV of 14%. I'll note that "Miraz" is the name of their daughter. This wine has seen oak aging and its evident in its taste, with much more spice and savory notes. 

I was enamored with the 2018 Miraz Frankovka, which spent a year in barrique and has a 13.% ABV. It too was elegant, with delicious red fruit flavors, soft tannins, good acidity, and a lengthy finish. There was also a freshness to the taste, and this would be an excellent wine with everything from pizza to burgers, from salmon to steak. Frankovka does very well in the Slavonian region, and we would taste other excellent Frankovka wines as we continued our visit to the region.

I was even more enamored with the 2016 Ledeno Vino Frankovka, an Ice Wine, with an 11.% ABV. With a fine golden color, this was a hedonistic and complex wine, with a balanced sweetness, red berry, honey and apricot notes, and quite a lengthy, satisfying finish. This is a wine that will impress your friends as you slowly sip it after dinner, or with dessert. Highly recommended!

A beautiful spread of food was also put out to accompany the wines, the typical hospitality of Croatians, with Kulen, stuffed peppers, cracklings, and more It's just too tempting not to indulge, no matter whether you just had lunch or not. 

These delightful treats are known as Poderane Gaće, which roughly translates as "torn underpants," and  they are basically fried yeast dough. In Croatia, its commonly eaten for Mardi Gras, but there's no reason you can't enjoy them year round. So delicious! 

The Feravino Winery is making some excellent Graševina and Frankovka (including an amazing Ice Wine), and they are headed in the right direction as they head into the future.