Croatian Wine
I am serving a roasted leg of lamb with a Middle Eastern beef stuffing as the main course for Christmas dinner. I have read that a nice Bordeaux is the thing to serve with this meal; however, when going through my wine to pull out the appropriate Bordeaux, I noticed the several bottles of Croatian wine that I bought in 2009 while vacationing there. It got me thinking that perhaps they might taste good with a roasted leg of lamb given the relative proximity to the Middle East and the Mediterranean influence in coastal Croatian cuisine. Am I off base? I have both red and white from Croatia--typing out the names on the bottles would just about do me in so I am not going to list them here.
By derochick
on Dec 18, 2011 07:46 PM
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Yes, a Croatian wine would match well to the dish. It's probably the case that you were in Southern Croatian when you bought the red? If so, then it's likely a Plavac Mali based wine and is very food friendly, especially with lamb. If it's a Teran from up in Istria, probably not as much given that that is a heartier wine. It would help to know the winery and the year though as some makers are putting out bottles that are far too oaky for anything these days.
Vinologue
www.vinologue.net
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Croatian wine has been covered several times on this board.
I remember this thread particularly:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/493560
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If it's Plavac Mali, you may be reminded of Zinfandel (at least, that's how it strikes me.)
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Zinfandel's origin has been traced to Croatia so that's not impossible. Somehow it got that name in the USA .Same grape or close variant is grown as Primitivo in Italy.
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Sunce Winery (in Santa Rosa, CA) is run by a Croatian family and their winemaking style is heavily influenced by their heritage.
http://www.suncewinery.com/sunce_new/...
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In my neck of the wood, Dobra Zemlja in Plymouth was founded by a Croatian
family. They pride themselves in making "the biggest Amadors" i.e., extremely
robust wines (particularly Zins). I favor a more restrained style, but their wines
are quite popular. The whole family gets an A+ in terms of friendliness and
hospitality.
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