Croatia & Slovenia
w/ Megan Barone!
Humble Vine’s favorite educator Megan Barone is back from a wine adventure along the Dalmatian Coast, and she brought home some crazy cool wines and a few good stories to go with them! We’re pouring one Croatian white, two Croatian reds, and a wild little sparkling red from Slovenia. These regions have been making wine for centuries, but the grapes may be completely new to you. Bright, playful, a little weird, and seriously delicious… Exactly how we like it.
@ Humble Vine
Wednesday, September 23d
HOURS: 2PM - 8 PM
Wine Tasting: $25
Voštinić Klasnić, Škrlet Moslavina, Croatia | $26
This is like a bright beam of sunshine wherever you may find the need. A young and playful wine. Packed with flowery aromas, herbal notes, and fruity tastes. Škrlet is pale yellow color, rich with flowery aromas, herbal notes and delivers a whisper of pineapple, peaches and apples. It’s light, bright and ridiculously easy to drink, with white flowers, citrus, fresh herbs and orchard fruit, backed by crisp acidity. Think somewhere in the neighborhood of Sauvignon Blanc and a lighter Grüner, but with a Croatian passport!
Rodica, Refošk Col Fondo Truške, Slovenian Istria | $32
The Rodica family farms organically in the hills of Slovenian Istria, just a few miles from the Adriatic, where warm Mediterranean sunshine gets tempered by sea breezes and cooler nights. This is a unique sparkling Red crafted from Refosco. Think undisgorged (Col Fondo) Champagne method red sparkling wine. Aromas of blackberry, cherry, thyme, straw, and forest floor. Inky, juicy, amazingly refreshing, with bright acidity and chewy tannins. The result is a dark, lightly sparkling red with red berries, spice, dried hay, forest floor, bright acidity and pleasantly chewy tannins.
Bura, Plavac Mali Pelješac, Dalmatia, Croatia | $30
Plavac Mali roughly translates to "little blue," after its small, dark-blue berries. A fresh, vibrant, youthful wine that packs a lot of punch. Light-to-medium in body, with high aromatics made up of a dark, but bright and vivacious, fruit bouquet of black currant, dark cherry, a touch of chalkiness, and Dalmatian herbs. The palate gives you chalky and dusty Plavac Mali tannins, paired with a ton of fruit and minerality. Cherry, dried Mediterranean herbs and earthy notes, with the ripe fruit, sturdy structure and warmth Plavac is known for. This is Dalmatian wine through and through: sunshine, stone, herbs, sea air.
Zlatan, Crljenak (Zinfandel) Island of Hvar, Dalmatia, Croatia $55
This is the original and authentic Zinfandel grape! Proven by UC Davis professor Carole Meredith, this grape has ended any speculation about whether or not Croatia is the home of Zinfandel. This vibrant, extracted wine offers bright fruit, fresh cherries and plums on the nose. Great structure and personality! It is full-bodied, robust, yet youthful with inviting drinkability. A fantastic food wine classically paired with pasta with meat sauces, grilled red meats, or charcuterie.
