The potential of our of Europe's most exciting wine regions is mirrored in its domestic consumption.
More famous for its endless beaches and sunshine, many visitors to Croatia are surprised at the quality of the local wine, and a growing number of wine experts are heading to the former-Yugoslav republic to learn more about its unique mix of established grape varieties and more than 130 indigenous ones.
News about the quality of Croatian wine is of course not lost on the locals, who have been drinking it in abundant quantities for some time, so much so, according to the BBC on December 16, 2015, that Croatia is ranked fifth in the world for wine consumption per capita - the top four are Portugal, France, Andorra and Denmark.
One expert who has taken the plunge is Master of Wine Jo Ahearne, who was interviewed by TCN on her first serious professional acquaintance with Croatian wines at Dalmacija Wine Expo in Split last year, during which she talked about what is exciting for her about Croatian wine:
"The tastes of Croatian wines are really quite specific, and they have a blend of brambly fruit and a herbal character, but in a nice way, as well as this minerality which Sasa kept on referring to in his talk. Given that they are big wines with quite a lot of alcohol, that herbalness and minerality make them fresher, so it is not just big, bold and lots of alcohol. They have personality, and there are a lot of people raging against the globalisation of wine, and so to have something which is indigenous and has a personality from where it comes I think is a real positive."
Ahearne has since moved to the island of Hvar, where she has started her to produce her own wine, the first Master of Wine to do so in Croatia.
(Master of Wine Jo Ahearne hard at work with celebrated Hvar winemaker Andro Tomic in Jelsa)
While most of Croatia's indigenous varieties may be unfamiliar to the global wine drinking community, the country has made significant contributions to the international wine story, none more so than in the case of Crljenak Kastelanski, a grape variety found in the Kastela region between Split and its airport in Dalmatia.
The grape variety is better known these days as Zinfandel, and researchers at the University of Davis in 2001 showed that the Croatian variety had 100% the same DNA as the popular American variety, thereby proving that the home of original Zinfandel was in fact Croatia.
There has been a concerted effort at replanting Crljenak in recent years, and the Kastela Wine Association is slowly getting organised to improve its wine tourism facilities for the original Zinfandel, as showcased on an international press trip earlier this year.
With such positive trends in Croatian wine tourism, it may not be long before the millions of tourists visiting the Adriatic country each year begin to catch up with the locals in their consumption.
