Terroir on a Plate and in a Glass is a Pro Wine project in which the quality of the ingredients comes first! The focus is on seasonal, local or rare and luxurious ingredients, and the goal is to pair these ingredients with wine.
We didn’t catch the trout ourselves, of course, but the mushrooms were a truly fresh find, to be expected at this time of year when sun and rain constantly alternate. Some of the vegetables were local as well, though we did have to buy some fruit. The wines were selected by our hosts: winery oenologist Igor Horvat and sales manager Nenad Zof. We designed the menu to complement the wines, pairing smoked trout with Bregh Blanc de Blancs sparkling wine, ham and cold cuts with fresh Graševina, and mushroom dishes with a mature Chardonnay Sur Lie.
Karizma and Enigma red wines we poured together, paired with steak. The idea was to taste whether the mature Karizma, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, or the even more mature 2019 Enigma, which adds a third variety, Cabernet Franc, to those two key Bordeaux reds, was a better match for the red meat. Naturally, the guests were divided on the choice, but had there been only one wine, they certainly wouldn't have complained, regardless of which one it was.
Bregh Rosé sparkling wine, also made from Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, accompanied the crispy pastry called hrskavac. It is good to know that, at the time of its founding, the Petrač winery faced challenges regarding the planting of Bordeaux grape varieties.
Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot were not among the recommended grape varieties for the Croatian Zagorje region. While they could be planted, regulations at the time required the resulting wines to be labeled simply as table wine, regardless of their quality. That is no longer the case today. The lunch, which was gradually stretching into the evening, continued with a wine surprise: a 1998 Traminer, saved to pair with an orange-infused Premium Anser foie gras and a rustic dish featuring black trumpet mushrooms. This wine from the previous millennium has aged beautifully. It is rich in tertiary notes, yet remains vibrant and mature, showing no signs of decline, and provided a perfect conclusion to a lovely day in the heart of Croatian Zagorje.
The Petrač estate spans 55 hectares, encompassing forests and meadows where sheep, goats, Red Angus cattle, donkeys, pigs, and deer roam. Vineyards cover 16 hectares. In addition to the aforementioned varieties, they also include some Riesling. New additions include the Bordeaux variety Petit Verdot (often referred to locally as mali zeleni, what means little green one despite being a black grape) and Tempranillo from northern Spain, though wines made from these are not yet available. There are plans to plant more Riesling, and the estate currently produces around 80,000 bottles of still wine and some 10,000 bottles of sparkling wine annually. Their finest wines are also bottled in magnums, 1.5-liter bottles, which allow the wine to mature more gently and gracefully, making them highly prized by collectors.
The Petrač Winery does not have a restaurant, but rather a tasting room and a terrace for friendly gatherings
Until our next get-together at the Petrač winery!
