Hvar winemakers invited as special guests of honour at Vina Fredane wine festival in Montefredane near Naples.
You would think there is enough sand in Arabia. Or that the world's largest wine producer does not need to import wine. It turns out neither is true. The Arabian Peninsula countries import a lot of sand since theirs is unsuitable for making good concrete. And Italy's annual wine imports are more than twice as much as Croatia's total annual production. Indeed Italy has a large appetite for non-Italian wines. Italians are sophisticated wine drinkers with a lot of interest for the new and the unusual.
The Hvar Winemakers' Association, headed by Ivana Krstulović Carić, have been working on building better connections with Croatia's large neighbour across the Adriatic sea. They have toured Apulia in search of Primitivo (aka Zinfandel, Tribidrag or Crljenak). They have introduced the Italians to the joys of Plavac. They have hosted events on Hvar, including most recenty the Mediterranean Diet Festival in July. And they continue with this week's Wine Fredane festival.
Montefredane is a commune in the Italian province of Avellino, Campania, some 40 miles east of Naples. This year marks the fifth time the Wine Fredane festival has been held. Guests of honour, by special invitation, are the Hvar Winemakers' Associaton, represented by Davor Šestanović, the oenologist of Zlatan Otok-Plenković winery.
The venue is the amazing Tenuta Ippocrate. The three night programme started on Wednesday August 10th, 2017 with a special guided tasting of three wines from Hvar, and a Primitivo from Apulia. The Hvar wines were the PZ Svirče Plavac Mediterrano, the Zlatan Otok Crljenak and the Vina Carić Plovac Ploški. The Primitivo was from Tenute Rubino in Brindisi. The evening's guide was Giuseppe Iannone from ONAV (Organizzazione Nazionale Assagiatori di Vino). The programme contunies through Friday August 12, 2016.
The Hvar wines that are being presented at the festival are:
Zlatan otok - Plenković:
Zlatan Crljenak ( crljenak) - red
Zlatan Plavac Grand Cru (plavac mali) - red
Zlatan Pošip (pošip) - white
Vina Carić:
Bogdanjuša (bogdanuša) - white
Rose Marino (plavac mali) - rose
Plovac Ploški (plavac mali) - red
Plovac Ploški Barrique (plavac mali) - red
PZ Svirče:
Bogdanuša (bogdanuša) - white
Pošip De lux (pošip) - white
Mediterano (plavac mali) - red
