Preparing for the International Wine Tourism Conference in Zagreb, Croatia next month, we experienced the Second Annual Portfolio Tasting, Vina Croatia yesterday at the Astor Center in New York City. We had a preview of some of the wines we will be exposed to in Croatia. Croatia makes wines from some of its 64 indigenous grapes. They also craft wines from international varietal grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Chardonnay. Some of their wines are called by their Croatian names, such as Traminac and Pinot Crni. Traminac is Gewürtztreminer and Pinot Crni is Pinot Noir. We learned that the grape Graševina is indigenous to Croatia. The name Welch Riesling is a synonym; however, Welch Riesling is Graševina and not the other way around.

At times one feels that this is a small world. At one of the tables the winery owner recognized me from my presentation at the IWINETC in Perugia last year. She said she took a lot of notes during my presentation and used some of what she learned as they are opening a tasting room at her winery. She plans to attend the IWINETC in Zagreb this year. We met others that are also planning to attend the conference in Zagreb. Giving that conference a mention, I suggested during a session, Beyond Plavic Mali that people should attend the conference next month. We are certainly looking forward to the conference and the chance to explore Croatia wine regions.

Cheers
Terry

Just a sample of Croatian wines