Birthday Wines: Two Croatian Amber Wines

Over the weekend, as I continued to celebrate my birthday, I opened two special wines, both Croatian Amber wines. In 2022, on my last trip to Croatia, I visited 28 wineries and brought home a number of wines, filling my luggage with as many bottles as I could within the weight limits. I had to carefully choose which wines to choose, which included many of my top favorites. 

While in Croatia, I tasted hundreds of wines and found many fascinating and delicious wines, including Sparkling, White, Rosé, Red, Amber, Dessert and others. Some of those wines are not yet available in the U.S. but the local Croatian Premium Wine Imports has a large portfolio of excellent Croatian wines, and they can ship those wines to most places around the U.S. Croatian wines deserve the attention of all wine lovers.

Saturday night, I decided to open the 2018 Korak Stare Sorte Amber Wine. You can read more about the winery in my article Korak Family Estate: A Return to Plešivica ("Croatia's Champagne"). The winery is also well known for its Sparkling Wines. This wine, inspired by "In Search of Lost Time" by Marcel Proust. The wine was an intriguing field blend of grapes, many old vines, including Šipelj, Belina, Plavac Zuti, Rizvanac, Grasevina, Veltliner, Silvanac, and Traminac. The grapes were macerated for about 60 days, natural yeasts were used, there was no added sulfur, and it was only 12% ABV. Only 500 bottles were produced! 

This was an amazing wine, complex and well balanced, with such a depth of flavor. Tannic, herbal notes, subtle spices, dried fruits, minerality, and much more. Great acidity and a long, lingering finish. Each sip delights the palate, bringing something new with each taste. One of the more unique wines I tasted in Croatia. Highly recommended!

Sunday night, I opted to uncork the 2018 Clai Sv. Jakov Malvazija. You can read more about the winery in my article Clai Winery: Natural Wines in Istria. The Malvazija grapes, which are certified organic, for this wine come from their oldest vineyard, which is about 42 years old. This wine is only bottled in excellent vintages, and the 2016 was the previous vintage bottled before the 2018. The grapes spend two months with skin contact, and later aged for two years in large oak barrels, ending with a 15% ABV. 

It possesses an alluring and complex aroma, and on the palate, the complexity remained, each sip bringing something new and exciting to my palate. Savory, delicious and compelling, a type of wine which is hard to easily describe. Highly recommended!

Concerning Croatian news, I also want to mention that Vinarija Rizman was chosen as the Most Beautiful Vineyard in Europe. I visited the winery in 2019, and I can attest to its picturesqueness. Two other Croatian wineries were also located in the Top Ten, including Kastel Sikuli (at #7) and Vitis Winery (#10). I've also visited the beautiful Kastel Sikuli, but I haven't been to the Vitis Winery. It's fascinating that Croatia has more wineries in this Top Ten than any other country. Italy has two spots on this list, but France, Portugal, Armenia, the UK, Albania, each occupy one spot.