Almost two weeks ago, my daughter and I attended a weekly “Wine Journey” tasting presented by Sasa Sinanagic, Wine Director at Lockwood Restaurant and Bar at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago. This particular week’s tasting theme was Wines of Croatia and who better to make the presentation than Mr. Sinanagic, a native of that country. Jessica and I were the first to arrive and were ushered into the tasting room/wine cave by one of the hosts of the restaurant. As we were admiring the selections and ambiance while whipping out our cameras to preserve the moment, we were greeted by Mr. Sinanagic himself who ushered us out of the tasting room/wine cave…He claimed that he “didn’t want us to see the wines” but in reality, he I’m sure he meant he didn’t want us to drink the wines! Ah ha! I guess we threw out some sort of “thirsty for wine” vibe~
Once the crowd gathered in the entryway to the bar, we are all brought back into the tasting room where we stood, listened to the presentation, tasted a selection of Croatian wines, nibbled on some cheese, nuts, and charcuterie, and learned quite a bit about the wine, its history, and the winemaking process for about an hour and a half.
As a side note, of the twenty attendees, only *four* of us were older than thirty five (I was the only female of the four), so, marketing people, keep that in your front pocket. All I can say is that us *four* attendees actually stayed for dinner at Lockwood and dropped extra $$ on drinks and food. I didn’t see the under thirty-five set staying except my daughter and I was popping for dinner…so maybe some intense wine tasting marketing should be aimed at us **older** consumers who have slightly more disposable income to blow on wine. But enough of that.
Frankly, I had a difficult time wrapping my head around the wine. I enjoyed the whites and rose wine offered, but the red wines had a musty, damp, way too earthy smell and taste to me. I understand that palates are different in various cultures…why do you think Coca-Cola changes their formula from country to country? So I really do get it and am happy that those from Croatia love their red wine. Even though I don’t at this point, I’m willing to learn. And that is the most important thing – the willingness to learn about wine and appreciate it, even if you don’t plan to buy bottles upon bottles.
Prior to the tasting, I had “friended” on Facebook from my page, “Grape Experiences”, the “Wines of Croatia” page so that I could be somewhat knowledgable before the actual tasting. This page is fantastic and almost every day has a link to an interesting article regarding the many types of grapes grown in Croatia, issues in production (don’t yawn), travel tips, and other pertinent info for the consumer. The blog, www.winesofcroatia.wordpress.com, is the “mother country” for its Facebook page and is under construction now. For more dirt just google “wines in croatia” or “croatia wines” and you will come up with a number of decent sites, but I do think the Facebook page may be one of the best. The better wine shops and wine bars offer tastings of their selection of Croatian wines, too, so I’ll be looking out for them and you should, too.
What did I like at the tasting at Lockwood?
- Korta Katerina 2009 Rose – a blend of the Plavac Mali and Zinfandel grapes
- Matosevic Alba Robinia Malvasia 2010 (white wine)
- Matosevic Alba Malvasia 2009 (white wine)
What wines do I have to learn to appreciate? These are all red wines and some may not be available in the United States at this point.
- Trapan Syrah
- Dinjac 2008 Vinograd Saint Lucia
- Plavac 2009
- Piquentum Teranum 2008
What did I learn??
- Zinfandel, the dark skinned red wine grape cultivated in California is originally Crljenak Kastelanski grape from Croatia’s Adriatic coast, brought to Italy as the Primitivo varietal, then arrived in America in the early 19th century. DNA research in the 1990s confirmed the suspicion…
- Malvazija (Malvasia) grape is the principle indigenous white grape variety in the Istria region of north coastal Croatia.
- Some of the wines at the tasting are not yet available in the States- and they may never be since they were sent to Mr. Sinanagic for sampling purposes.
- People from Croatia are proud of their heritage and love their country even though, according to Mr. Sinanagic, everyone from Croatia is late (including three ladies who hail from that country and arrived late to the tasting!).
- Croatia is a gorgeous country and I’d love to travel there someday – maybe a wine tasting trip after I get my palate sorted out~
Cheers to yet another “grape experience”! ~ Cindy
Wines of Croatia Tasting at Lockwood Restaurant in Chicago
