Five years ago we had no idea what lay ahead of us. Here is a sparkling account of the wine fortunes and misfortunes of that time, published in March 2020, and something of a warning not to let ourselves soar too high.
For a single moment of joy, a thousand days of sorrow. That beautiful line has felt like a curse to me these past days, because between 8 February and 7 March I had a great many moments of wine-fuelled joy, and I can only hope that a thousand days of sorrow are not waiting for me in return for each one. Anyone who knows me even a little knows how much I love sparkling wines.
Sometimes it is good to remember, sometimes…
So much so that I remember the very days I enjoyed them, and it was no trouble to pin down the exact dates. It all began on Saturday, 8 February. Or rather the day before. Dominik Jagunic, of the excellent family winery from Plesivica (a cool, hilly winegrowing region southwest of Zagreb), called to say that guests I knew had announced themselves for the next day, and that he would be glad if I came along too.
The invitation “promised” pleasant company and fine wines, and so it proved. We enjoyed the house’s then-still-new fizz, an excellent aged Blanc de Blancs made, naturally, from Chardonnay; the well-known Three Stars from grapes of three vineyards; still wines; fine home cooking…
The Virus Creeping Across Europe
The coronavirus was still only creeping across Europe, and Europe — at least its wine elite — arrived in Zagreb a week later. Dino Kusen organised the Acrobat Portfolio Tasting, where, I must admit, I was eagerly awaiting the cult Champagnes of Selosse.
They were not there, but it was no hardship alongside the familiar range of Billecart-Salmon and, to my delight, a wonderful discovery: the house of Trudon, whose Champagnes are dominated by Pinot Meunier, with the white Monochrome and the pink Rosephile both 100 percent from that black variety. Rosephile is a blend of white and red (nine percent) Pinot Meunier wine. The entry-level Emblematis is a white Champagne from two black varieties, including 20 percent Pinot Noir.
Prosecco Can Be Good, Too
Three days later the Mundus Vini judging began in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, among the largest in the world by number of samples. Flights of Prosecco regularly await me there, as if they know how little these generally characterless, mass-produced Italian sparkling wines interest me.
This year, it seems, my samples had been picked from among the two or three percent of genuinely good sparklers, so I was handing out scores of 90 and above almost with both hands. And not only me, of course. My fellow judges from China did not come, so one could already sense that the virus story was more serious than we had thought.
Three Ruinarts, Then a Magnum of Taittinger
We celebrated the return to Croatia once again with Jagunic’s blanc de blancs (not the one you might be thinking of…), and then came a day that can be measured only against those spent in Champagne. Three Ruinart Champagnes — the oldest active house, working without interruption since 1729 — made up an early lunch, while dinner, scampi na buzaru (langoustines in a garlic, white wine and tomato sauce), was accompanied by a magnum, a litre-and-a-half bottle, of their Reims neighbour Taittinger.
Three days later we tasted the best Croatian sparkling wines at Vinart’s festival in Lauba. The Plesivica producers were by the entrance, the dear Zagorje (a picturesque region of northwestern Croatia) folk right beside them: Barun, Kolaric, Korak, Tomac, Sember, Kurtalj, Bolfan… We passed by more than once, and not always in that order, so we never got much further than that corner of the hall.
Savoy Cabbage with Sparkling Wine
On Wednesday, 11 March, at Kurtalj’s Vinska klet wine bar on Kaptol we drank DRI as an aperitif, washed down a savoy-cabbage stew and minced-meat patties with a truly fine Cuvee Prestige, and said our goodbyes with a bottle of Rose. Dear Suhi, I pinched your photo for this. I forgot to take one myself. The last outing before isolation was on Saturday, 14 March.
At Dolac market we found all-but-live little sardines and came across impossibly fragrant strawberries that led us to buy an outstanding, three-year-aged Korak Rose Brut Nature sparkler as well. The cellar stocks have been thinning ever since. Most Zagreb merchants deliver wine — a pity not all of them take cards — and winemakers such as Kabola from Momjan drive it to your door too. We have come back down to earth and now choose with an eye on our wallet rather than our heart, but we are not giving up. Good wines need not be (too) expensive, and with a glass and the right company even hard times are easier to get through.
Cover photo: Daniel Schludi on Unsplash
29 March 2025
