Touring Dalmatia: Konavle
Posted on 26 November 2013
From Slovenia, I’ve moved to Croatia for the next part of my wine tour: Dalmatia. With a group of fellow journos in the run-up to the Zagreb Vino.com Festival, we’re touring Croatia’s southern coast starting in Dubrovnik and making our way north.
Good Malvasija from Dubrovnik: no more impossible.
The trip started with 13 hours on the bus (that’s best forgotten, if not for the vistas) and then a tasting at Konavle, Croatia’s southernmost appellation, bordering Montenegro. The speciality is Malvasija Dubrovačka, a local white grape that it is different from other Adriatic Malvasias such as the one grown in Istria and Friuli. My experience with Konavle so far has been pretty negative: there is a lot of Yugo-style wine here, oxidised and fruitless and totally careless.
Petar Crvik Presenting his excellent wines.
Well, I’m happy to say that at least two wines of yesterday’s tasting contradicted that: Crvik Malvasija 2011 has an enticing honeyed and exotic fruit profile and carries its 14.5% alc. gracefully.
Grk: ultra-rare, exciting Adriatic grape.
And Miljas’s 2012, a little leaner, displayed a surprising salty flavour that would pair well with the region’s stunning seafood. Miljas also makes a lovely crisp structured Grk, the only example of this super-rare grape outside its home, eastern Korčula (where I will go tomorrow to tell you more). Incidentally, during my weekend in Istria visiting local star producer Meneghetti I also tasted a pretty decent Syrah from Kuća Glavić. After years of collapse, Konavle could be back on track.
Decent Syrah from Dalmatia, who would have thought?
Disclosure: my trip to the Croatia including flights, accommodation and wine tasting programme is sponsored by Zagreb Vino.com.