February 10, 2020 - The small family winery eponymously named - Valenta Family Wines - is a relative newcomer among numerous wineries and winemakers from Istria.
Their first commercial bottles of wine were filled only three years ago, in 2017. Before that, they only produced wine for themselves. Situated in Kaldir, near Motovun – the family owns 6 hectares of vineyards, four of which are in an extraordinary location by the name Raj (Heaven) on the top of Šubijent hill. For the time being, Valenta has only four labels – fresh Malvazija, fresh Sauvignon, fresh Muškat and aged Teran, soon to be on offer. The father of the family, Valter Valenta, is now assisted by two sons, Steven and Ivica who are in charge of the prosperous but still small winery. They are all ready to admit how it is imperative to own at least 10 hectares of vineyards in order to be able to live solely from winemaking, so this plan is still ahead of them.
This past Thursday, Valter Valenta had the opportunity to present his wines to the broader audience in Zagreb, at History Wine bar on Tkalčićeva street. The media and guests, invited by the author of the Wine Talks project, Tomislav Stiplošek, leisurely and unanimously enjoyed the wine tasting, some very nice food, a book presentation and some music at the very end of the program. The evening began with a presentation of Malvazija that was a little bit different from the ones we usually consume and are accustomed to. This 2018 Malvazija was very nice and utterly and enjoyed by everybody. The following one, just to compare, was a still too young Malvazija 2019 that still has to ripen before it is offered to the market.
Next, two fantastic Terans were tasted. The first one, form 2017, has already been awarded several times at different festivals and earned a bronze Decanter medal, and a still-young Teran from 2018, with very high percentage of alcohol (14,7 %), but is promising to be an excellent wine in the future. The Wine Talks were very interesting this time with many people from the audience interactively participating in the discussion and with a book promotion by a Pula native, business journalist Dragana Radusinović.
She signed her book, "The Tycoon's Daughter“ with her married name Tafra, and initiated a lively discussion from the audience, since many thought that her business journalist alter ego was to blame for this almost reality inspired love novel that is also a thriller. Last but not least, the food that was served largely contributed to the overall atmosphere: especially excellent meat products Buretić Breg from Učka region and cheeses signed by already famous Latus brand. Lastly, singer Helena Novosel and jazz musician Svibor Perković completed the evening with a very nice performance.
Photos by Rene Karaman
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