Red Blend, the first evaluation of Croatian mixtures of red varieties, was organized at the Esplanade Zagreb Hotel by Ana Rogač and Ivo Kozarčanin, the founders of the iVino project. 57 samples arrived from all parts of Croatia, from Ilok in the east to Konavle in the south, and even three gold medals went to the far west, to the Degrassi winery in Savudrija. The wines were judged by oenologists Franjo Francem and Slaven Jeličić, sommelier Darko Lugarić (Tač restaurant) and Silvio Dedić (Esplanade Zagreb Hotel), director of the Vino.com International Wine and Gastronomy Festival Ivan Dropuljić and journalist and wine critic Željko Suhadolnik.
The best rated wines will be presented to the audience at the International Wine and Gastronomy Festival Vino.com in Esplanade on November 26, when the winemakers will also receive awards. There, the wineries that had the best rated rosé wines will also receive awards, as will sparkling wine producers. The evaluation of Croatian natural sparkling wines The Flute Stars will be in mid-November. In Croatian red blends, there are various combinations of indigenous and international varieties, and wine styles vary from producer to producer. Each wine has a history and is a reflection of the terroir, climate, soil and winemaker. High-quality black blends of varieties come from Croatian wine-growing regions, which is proof that local winemakers have mastered modern oenological procedures. Red Blend provided an insight and better illuminated the Croatian wine scene of red blends of varieties.
Three golden wines from the Red Blend 2021 evaluation are from the Degrassi winery in Savudrija. These are Terre Bianche Cuvée Rouge Riserva 2007, Terre Bianche Cuvée Rouge 2012 and Terre Bianche Cuvée Rouge 2009, and the fourth is the "gold coin" from Zagorje: Charisma 2018 of the Petrač winery from Hršak Brega near Krapinske toplice. Silver red blends are Goldberg Red 2019. Belje wines from Kneževi Vinogradi in Baranja, Korlat Supreme 2013 from Benkovac, Boškinac Cuvée 2016 from Novalja on Pag, again Degrassi's Terre Bianche Cuvee Rouge Riserva 2013 and Kurykta Reserva 2018 by Anton Katunar with Krka. Katunar's wine Kurykta Supele 2017 leads the list of bronze blends of varieties, which also includes Festigia LV 2015. Wines Laguna from Poreč, Galić Crno 9 vintage 2016 from Kutjevo, Clemente red 2016 by Ivan Damjanić from Poreč and K7 vintage 2019 by Vlado Krauthaker from Kutjevo.