 Hello, hello, hello, I'm Matthew Horky and I'm Sherin Tan. Together we are Exotic Wine Travel. We've spent the last three years traveling around the world writing and speaking about unique and exciting wines. Our journey has taken us to both lesser known and established wine regions. In 2016, we came to Croatia for the first time. We fell in love with the country and the wines, prompting us to write the book Cracking Croatian Wine, a visitor-friendly guide. Now we're at it again. We're going to re-tour the country and bring our book to life. We aim to take you deep into the Croatian food and wine scene. So sit back, relax, and join us as we go Cracking Croatian Wine! Malvazija Starska is known internationally as Malvazija Istriana. It's native to Istria and is the flagship grape of the region. Fresh white wine from Malvazija is made by nearly every producer in Istria. It's hard to go wrong with this grape during the hot summer days. Our first stop is Matosjevic winery. Ivica Matosjevic is the perfect spokesperson for Malvazija. In addition to being a winemaker, he's a scholar and a world traveler. His tasting room is fun and casual. While we love his red blend of Turan and Merlot called Grimalda, he's most known for making several types of Malvazija. We highly recommend the Antica, an orange wine made from Malvazija and aged in Acacia wood. Ivica tells us why Malvazija Istarska is so special. For us it's special because it's ours. About 60% of all the wineries in Istria are covered with Malvazija. In the last 20 years we've worked a lot on Malvazija and today we can find plenty of different styles. We are making some Malvazija aged in oak, aged in Acacia. Some of the guys are making Amphora wine, some of them are doing some dessert wine, sparkling wine. So after 20 years we have a pretty, pretty large stylistic. I believe that the future will be mostly connected with this lightness, elegance, drinkability. When I explain Malvazija I usually say that it has a straw yellow color. It has a nose on a flower of Acacia. Then we have some minerality and bitter almond aftertaste. There should be some school description of Malvazija. We move on to another big name for Malvazija, Koslovic. The winery is a work of art and sits in the quaint village of Valle. The tasting room is sleek and modern. It's a place that you want to spend time at. It's also friendly for large groups. Franco and Antonella Koslovic made a name for themselves by producing Top-Notch Malvazija. During this particular visit we found a special edition of Sauvignon Blanc that can turn even the most critical into a believer. So this is a special release from Koslovic, it's a summer wine. They have very short supply so it's not often that you get to try this wine. I really like it because it's much more towards the mineral side of Sauvignon Blanc because you still get a little bit of aromas but it's much less green and I'm getting much more PG pair and mineral on the nose. The real deal at Koslovic is Malvazija. Their single vineyard Santaluchia is regarded as one of Croatia's finest white wines. This new vintage is stunning. Antonella Koslovic gives us some of our time to explain what makes the Santaluchia position such a special place. If you are speaking about a special Malvazija then it has to be connected to Santaluchia position. On Santaluchia there is a nice hill on the top of the hill exposed to the sun all the day long. There is an exposure also to the sea because the high level is 240 m above the sea. Because on Santaluchia position we have vines which were planted in 61 and 62. The one thing that strikes me immediately about this wine is the structure. It's unlike any of the Malvazija out there. It's really elegant but structure and powerful in a very subtle way as well. In the last few years Koslovic has also produced small quantities of a red Santaluchia wine. It's one of our favorite Croatian red wines. Tell me a little bit more about the Santaluchia cuve noir as well. Santaluchia red comes out from an opinion that we would like to have a strong and tastier heavier red. So we were for years trying to have a strong and nice Tehran. But when we find out we don't have position for Tehran we understood we need to exchange a little bit our point of view of the red. And we decided to plant Merlo Cabernet Sauvignon on the position of Santaluchia which is south exposed on the sun all the day. I'm getting the oak but it's a very nice kind of smoky cinnamon sweet spice on the nose. And I like that I'm getting olive in this one. I don't remember smelling like olive in a previous video. The new vintage is a masterpiece. It's been a busy morning and we rejoined Ivica for lunch at the Limbei in West Istria. It's a sunken karst valley that has lower levels of salinity than the surrounding Adriatic making it a prime spot for shellfish. Lunch is at Restaurant Viking an honest place that uses fresh ingredients. The oysters and shellfish are delicious. However it's the seafood risotto that gets Srin really excited. She's usually not a huge fan of risotto. The rice is done to perfection. You know it's a little bit bouncy but it's not overcooked or under cooked for five texture. If you use grainy you know it's not overcooked because there's no stickiness and it's not hot. And also the sauce, the rice complements up the sauce. And the sauce I can taste like potentially maybe even like scampi here or something. There's a very pungent sweet seafood taste to the rice. The wild asparagus just adds extra texture and just a little bit of this bitterness and sweetness to the risotto. It's really a rich creamy. For the main monkfish tail. Sometimes it can be prepared poorly giving off a rubbery texture but this dish is just right. We're stuffed after lunch but we have another stop for dinner. Trapin food and wine station. Bruno Trapin is a rock star wine maker and his tasting room is hip and fun. He's recently opened an on-premise restaurant to give wine lovers another option to eat in the area. We want them to have a trapin experience, whichever that means. But we wanted to combine some of the best food that my chefs can make and try to combine it with wine. So generally every dish has a wine for itself. So it was like a normal thing that we do throughout the year. Parties and food pairing and wine pairing. It was normal to try to have it with professional chefs. So we opened the kitchen and we tried to give something in Pula, something different. Some different meaning to food. So it's not always the same and it's not every day the same. So it's local catch, fresh food, whatever they can find plus some of the traditional dishes that they have every day. Hopefully we did it okay. You're gonna be the ones that decide if it's good or it's not good. I know that my wines are good. We need to do a little quality control check so we tour the small but humble kitchen. You too, Tom. I love you. I love you. I love you too. Everything looks fine so now it's time to dinner. Tartar with zucchini. These are... Mom better. It's a reduction of fish. And this is sea prosciutto. The appetizer is delicious and goes great with Bruno's two macerated malvasias. Urribos and is traditional. The beef cheek cooked in red wine from taran and dessert is what gets Shreene really excited. Is that peas? Oh celery. And cabbage. Thank you. This is biru. It tastes more like a mixed berry taste. It's really really good. I don't taste the biru. I feel like it's mixed berry. It's really really good. The pairing with the chocolate is perfect. The best thing about Trapan food and wine station is the fun and energy. After dinner we found out that there's a birthday party going on. Bruno quickly turns into a fabulous host and the party rages on until the wee hours of the night. The next day we attend a master class at the 25th annual Vinistre wine fair. Stephen Spurrier is in town. For those that don't know he's the man responsible for putting together the 1976 judgment of Paris. It was depicted in the Hollywood film Bottle Shock. Mr. Spurrier has high praises for Malvasia Estarska. Why do you think Malvasia is a good grape? And what kind of things can consumers expect from drinking Malvasia wine? Well I think it's a good grape because the basic quality of a good grape is that it's harmonious. A wine without harmony can't be good. Balance harmony. And so it balances the fruit, the freshness, the acidity. And it gives, it's got lovely texture too. And also as we've seen in the tasting it's really beautiful young and it ages modestly. Are you able to compare Malvasia to a specific wine region or international wine grape? I think it's totally European. I think there might be some planted in the new world, I don't know. But other grape varieties like Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, even Riesling have become international. I think Malvasia, people will see what you're doing in Austria and they will plant it and do very well with it. So I think Malvasia is going to get a passport to go all over the world. But it needs to be taken up. I think it's the next new thing. Thank you Mr. Stephen Spurrier for the high praise. In the tasting class led by Mr. Spurrier, he said, Malvasia is about to launch itself in the world of wine and it is created in Croatia. I'm sure many Austrian wine producers appreciate the stem of approval. And so in the next episode of Azotic Wine Travel, we take you out on a truffle hunt in Austria. We also introduce a wine called Good Guy. Recommend a wine bar in Austria and take you to a one-stop venue for your wine and gastronomy adventures. If you'd like to learn more about Croatia and Croatian wine, keep a lookout for our next episode and check out our book Cracking Croatian Wine, A Visitor-Friendly Guide.