Hilly Croatia on Decanter

Wines from Central Hilly Croatia won 113 medals at this year's Decanter, the world's largest wine competition - 25 silver and 87 bronze. That's 22 medals more than last year.

"Hillside Croatia excelled with sparkling wines and still wines from aromatic varieties, including Sauvignon, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir, Traminer and Rhine Riesling, as well as Pušipel and Franken. The region is making the most progress in sparkling wines and clearly has the greatest potential in them. For sparkling wines, you need the right conditions, primarily the climate, but also serious knowledge and experience. The knowledge has been acquired over the past two decades and now the winemakers of Hillside Croatia are producing sparkling wines of international class," said Saša Špiranec, a judge at Decanter.

He explained that some wines narrowly missed out on gold, but that it didn't matter because the amount of silver was impressive. To win silver, you need to score between 90 and 94 points, which is highly demanding by international standards. That is why silver from DWWA is considered a more valuable grade in winemaking than gold from some other competitions. Bronze, Špiranec explained, is also a notable achievement because Decanter bronze wines are highly recommended, ones that he would buy himself and enjoy with friends and relatives. Dvorska vina Šoškić won the most points in Central Hilly Croatia, with a total of 94, for the amber wine Haiku 5.

"We were separated from the gold by a point! We are not disappointed, but that fact still stung us a bit. Haiku is a macerated orange wine produced using a distinct method from our other wines. Thanks to that, it is more complex than anything else with our label. Haiku is a monumental wine - a reflection of the winemaker, grapes, terroir, and experience. It is smooth, floral, and fragrant," said Siniša Šoškić from the winery Dvorska vina Šoškić, whose wines won three medals at this year's Decanter.

A high 93 points was awarded to the Red wine from the Voštinić Klasnić winery.

"Last year we got 94 points for that wine, and this time one point less. I'm playing with creating wine. I have vineyards in Moslavina and Dalmatia. We're continually improving our quality year after year. In ten years' time, I want to be at the top with red wines. Creating wine is creative. I'm experimenting, among other things, with different ways of maturing wine and oak barrels from different countries," said Tomislav Voštinić from the Voštinić Klasnić winery.

"Our vineyards are intertwined with family history. Dad planted the first vineyard when I was born, and my nephew Toni, the first grandson in the family, was born when we planted a new vineyard five years ago. We named the sparkling wine that is now crowned with silver at Decanter after him. Gold is a secret wish for all of us. I hope to win it with one of the next sparkling wines. Our Pušipel has great potential for good sparkling wines and we want to use that," said Tatjana Hažić from the Hažić Wine House, which won a bronze medal in addition to the silver medal at this year's Decanter.

The Košćak and Kopjar wineries won the most medals in Central Hilly Croatia. The former won six medals, and the latter five.

Some of the best-rated wines from Croatia's Hilly region, as featured in Decanter, were showcased at a special wine workshop in Zagreb. The wines are from the Cmrečnjak, Coletti, DeMar, DK Dvanajščak - Kozol, Furjan, Hažić Winery, Jakopić, Kopjar, Najman, Klet Romić, Dvorska vina Šoškić, and Voštinić Klasnić wineries. Saša Špiranec led the workshop.

This year, Croatia won 386 medals at the Decanter, ranking it 8th in the world by the number of medals. Fifty-seven countries participated in the competition.

Photos: Matej Ščavničar