Can You Pair Premium Kutjevo Wines and Ice Cream?

Sparkling Wine and Ice Cream? Why not!

In addition to chocolate, wines can be paired with ice cream as well! At the Chateau des Jardins pizzeria in Tkalčićeva Street in Zagreb, a premium event took place on December 31, 2015, organized by the GET Association. The idea was to pair premium wines produced by Kutjevo and premium ice cream made by Gelati d'Oro – NATURA.

At the very beginning, Maximo Brut, excellent sparkling wine made by Kutjevo, was served. "Maximo Brut is a sparkling wine made using the traditional method, 100 percent made of Graševina, with Graševina ice wine added instead of liqueur d'expedition. "It gives the wine a special sweetness and makes it pair well with lighter desserts, which ice creams undoubtedly are", explained sommelier Aleksandar Noršić.

No one really knows how exactly did ice cream originated, but its history dates back to 3000 BC and China. There is a theory that ice cream arrived in Europe thanks to the travels of Marco Polo. It is interesting that there are historical records that during the Persian War military leader Alexander the Great gave to his troops ice cream which was a chilled mixture of ice and sugar, while the Egyptians enjoyed ice cream in a completely different way. At the time of the pharaohs, they would prepare ice cream mainly with camel milk and cream or yoghurt, which would be frozen after the addition of candied fruit and nuts, served as a special delicacy.

The guests at the event were introduced to the story about ice cream by nutritionist expert Diana Gluhak. "Although the ancient peoples knew how to enjoy sweets, we really do not have many opportunities to try special, functional ice creams, which have a great nutritional value and an excellent taste. Gelati d'Oro ice creams are just like that", Gluhak said and explained what is the difference between "regular" ice creams and "gelato" ice creams.

Although "gelato" is often considered to be just the Italian word for ice cream, it is actually a super ice cream. Gelato is much thicker, so it should not be frozen at very low temperatures, it has a creamy structure and significantly better nutritional value. Gelati d'Oro NATURA are tested gluten-free products, while the ice cream flavoured with strawberries is also suitable for vegans.

The ice creams presented by Gelati d'Oro which belong to the NATURA product line are a Croatian product. The manufacturer is the company Frigus Vecla from the town of Krk. "Gelati d'Oro was named after the name by which the Romans called the island of Krk, Isola d'Oro – the island of gold. NATURA ice creams are a high quality delicacy made from top quality ingredients exclusively of natural origin", the company owner Dalibor Jurina said and added: "The richness of flavour has been achieved by using high quality ingredients, such as strawberries from Vrgorac, Bourbon Madagascar BIO vanilla, Dominicana BIO Fairtrade cocoa, Piemonte IGP hazelnuts... There are no artificial colours, stabilizers, emulsifiers or flavours. It has a lower proportion of sugar and fat in comparison with regular ice creams and does not contain gluten, which is proven by a special certificate."

In addition to Maximo Brut sparkling wine, some of the other premium Kutjevo wines, like Maximo Nero (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah), de Gotha Pinot Noir and Turković Graševina, were also paired with ice cream, but not in a glass. One of the best Croatian chefs, Belizar Miloš from the Agava Restaurant, prepared dressings from the above-mentioned wines which in combination with ice cream gave fantastic results. The pairings were accompanied by Maximo Brut in glasses. That showed that wines can be paired well with food, and not be consumed just as drinks. In addition to the dressings based on wines, particularly noteworthy was an emulsion of Torkul olive oil and oranges. At the end, as the special highlight of the presentation, Katja and Kristijan Šragalj, owners of the Chateau des Jardins pizzeria, prepared a few pizzas and demonstrated why they are some of the best in the business. And another nice story has continued.

Delicious Ice Cream Dressings
1. Maximo Nero, sugar, black pepper, vanilla in a pod
2. De Gotha Pinot Noir, brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves
3. Turković Graševina, white wine, sugar, star anise, black pepper, cloves
4. Molasses and Balsamic Vinegar Bianco
5. Torkul olive oil, orange