Top 100 wines of Croatia - Page 9

Discovering the wine region of Croatia

Croatia is an important wine-producing country on the Adriatic Sea, at the western end of Europe's Balkan Peninsula. Formerly Part of Yugoslavia, it borders Slovenia, Hungary, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro. Export trade, although modest, has grown over the past two decades. The main Croatian styles are Dry white wines of Grasevina (WelschRiesling) and Malvasia, and rustic, Full-bodied red wines.

These wines are usually made from the Plavac Mali Grape. White wine accounts for about two out of every three bottles produced in the country. In the interior regions, only 10% of the total annual production is red wine. The multitude of indigenous varieties that were once common here has declined alarmingly in recent decades.

Grasevina (Welschriesling) has Long been the preferred white variety in Croatian vineyards. It is supported by the regional specialties Bogdanusa, Grk, Posip and Vugava. The first is so reliable and prolific that it is called a "godsend". The second, Powerful and aromatic, was once considered the Viognier of the Rhone Valley.