The title says it all. Malvazija from Istria is truly versatile.
Istria, a peninsula, was once in the hands of Italy, Yugoslavia and Austro-Hungary.
It is now part of Croatia and a region I visited on my travels. Istria is a fairy tale land abutting the sea and dotted with beautiful green hillsides, castles, vines, herbs, small seaside communities and world class truffles.
Most natives have vines and produce wine for themselves. Croatia has begun to make an inroads into the international wine scene. Istria is no exception, but, has limitations with a little more than 10,000 acres to harvest.
Don’t let that fool you, as many of the bottles are exported to America.
Malvazija has many flavors from this peninsula, depending where the vineyards are located. The vines can grow near the Adriatic or can grow on the mountainside, which reaches above 3,500 feet.
I thought it would be best to sample a Malvazija from each area. I chose a 2018 Ritosa Vina Malvazija from near Porec, close to the Adriatic and a 2019 Fakin Vina Malvazija from the inland, near Motovun. Both wines are available in the U.S.
The two styles were completely different, as the 2018 Ritosa, from the seaside was refreshing, acidic and made for seafood. Its light straw color had a faint greenish overtone. There is a presence of orchard fruit, almonds and saline on the palate. It is a clean and fresh wine and the style of Malvazija for easy drinking.
Contrast the 2018 Ritosa to the 2019 Fakin Malvazija and you will see the versatility of the grape. The inland location with different soil and altitude, minus sea breezes and the reflective sun, made this wine a completely different animal. The 2019 Fakin was full of depth, very earthy, rich, dry, bitter, nutty, honeyed and a food friendly wine. Fortunately, I sampled the wine with Croatian friends who ran to their refrigerator with a couple ounces of truffles to pair with this wine. It was a match made in heaven because where the vines grow, so do the truffles.
In summary, it is my recommendation to try both styles of Malvazija Istarska. It is like Malvazija 101, an easy course to understand the obvious differences that location, soil and altitude make.
Philip S. Kampe
Philip.kampe@thewinehub.com
1 comment:
Good presentation of one of the oldest grape varieties, Malvazija Istarska. The styles of wines were so different that you think someone tricks you and gave you different wine variety. Good work Phil, as usual. Always pleasure to read.
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