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Croatia did it again at the Decanter World Wine Awards and won three platinum awards and 16 gold medals. The haul was their best in the history of the awards, which is considered the gold standard since the competition began giving awards in 2004.
Experts sampled more than 18,000 wines from around the globe from a UK magazine, and the Croatian gold haul was double that of 2021. In 2021 Croatian winemakers took home three platinum and eight gold awards marking their superior dominance at the Decanter World Awards.
After the awards, Croatia should be considered a dominant force in the region as far as wine is concerned. Although Croatia is at the helm of producing the best wines in the world, they hardly export their wines.
Istria county is still the local leader, and the winners of the platinum medals were:
Platinum, 97 points
Very ripe and vibrant with wonderful complexity. There are dried apricots, tropical fruit notes, hints of chamomile, yellow apples, lemon peel, and pronounced minerality giving gorgeous freshness. The wonderfully structured palate is complex, long, and well-balanced.
Platinum, 97 points
Powerful, rich, and a big, luscious style that's reminiscent of Sauternes. Fully botrytised, with gorgeously concentrated dried apricot, orange peel, brown sugar, buckwheat, honey, and baked apple flavours. Finishes with a long honeyed tail.
Gold medal winners from Istria County are:
Gold, 95 points, Red
A very vibrant and primary fruit character that tells of youth. A mouthwatering acidity surrounds the ripe raspberry and redcurrant fruit flavours. There are fresh flowery accents that join the fruit. A wine with potential for the future.
Gold, 95 points, Red
Highly extracted, with grippy tannins that steer close to aggression. The palate is rich and powerful with overripe dark fruits, dark cherry, sweet baking spices, and tobacco. There is a lovely lift to the finish and great fruit expression.
Gold, 95 points, Red
This is a really individual and characterful wine that shows superb freshness. The bright acidity is an absolute joy, with notes of cranberry, musk, and cacao. There is a lightness and deftness to the wine with flavours of blackberry with subtle hints of dried herbs and black olives.
Gold, 95 points, White
A complex macerated wine with beautiful aromas of yellow flowers and stone fruits. The palate is full of ripe fruits and shows a lovely minerality. It is well-structured, with a round, smooth, and long finish.
Gold, 95 points, White
A vivid orange wine in style: concentrated and rich, suggestions of skin contact, phenolic/tannin complexity, and salty-tangy bitterness. Overripe stonefruits with vanilla yoghurt, bitter oranges, herby-pineapple, dried apricots, and some iodine tang. This is very long and feels really fresh and lively.
Other gold medal winners are:
Gold, 96 points, Red
The wine is savoury and full of detail, and even though this is a big and quite ripe style, with dried, leathery fruit, it sings with freshness and life. Even though the palate is rich with strong tannins, it doesn't overawe the fruit.
Gold, 96 points, White
A wine with wonderfully intense and rich aromatic qualities. Leading with ripe stone fruits, honeyed yellow fruits, and an interesting propolis character. The floral-toned palate is so clean and fresh and builds with further notes of melon, rose petals, and lychee. An extremely food-friendly off-dry wine.
Gold, 96 points, White
A haunting aroma of white flowers gradually opens to reveal spicy jasmine, summer pears, and lifted green-lemon notes. The palate grows in complexity with a sweet-and-spicy multilayered expression of quince, nectarine, jasmine, and honeysuckle. It offers an elegant and charming finish with subtle structure.
Gold, 96 points, White
An oaky-rich wine that opens with a lovely expression of dried summer fruits, melon, and a touch of overripe banana peel. The palate is expressive and charming with a vibrant acid backbone giving sensations of freshness.
Gold, 95 points, White
Lots of lemon zest and Mirabelle aromatics lead into nectarine, pineapple, and a squeeze of grapefruit. The palate opens with some smooth oaky style and offers yellow flower characters, a hint of banana, and a mineral saltiness. The wine finishes with a wet-stone and pine-hinted accent.
Gold, 95 points, White
Rich and caramelly on the nose, with baked apple, ginger, and honey aromas, with some marzipan savouriness. The sweetness here is perfectly balanced by the acidity, showing just how well Riesling adapts to this style. The wine finishes with some beautifully done light botrytis influence.
Gold, 95 points, White
Quite intense and spicy, while showing a nice note of ripeness. Interesting notes of nutmeg, oriental spices, and herbs, join the fresh green bell pepper, lemon, and lime flavours. The wine finishes dry on the palate with good intensity and plenty of character.
Gold, 95 points, White
The wine displays a concentrated botrytis nose with fine apricot, quince, caramel, candied lemon, and vanilla. Textured and sexy with masses of fruit and a lovely Traminer character. There is some structure too, sufficient freshness and good savoury spice. For the price, a brilliant wine.
Gold, 95 points, White
An aromatic, crisp, and refreshing wine with plenty of grassy-green pepper varietal typicity. There are additional accents of green apple and citrus fruits on the elegant, quite pronounced mineral palate. The finish is long, dry, and vibrant.
Gold, 95 points, White
The wine leads with a deep golden colour. The aroma has a lovely layered richness and marries ripe tropical fruits with Mediterranean fruits and some well-integrated oak. The palate is dry with some delicate floral characters and shows an amazingly vibrant character and length.
Gold, 95 points, White
A fabulously silky wine with gorgeous tropical notes of maracuja and mango. It offers clean purity, with a finely integrated acidity bringing freshness to the pineapple, apricot, and a touch of honey. What a beauty - the sugar, acidity, and fruit balance is wonderful!
Dvorska Šoškić in Plešivica, a family run winery that was in business just before the pandemic, located outside Croatia’s capital, won the third platinum award for:
Platinum, 97 points, Orange
A rounded and well-balanced wine with interesting herbal details and some broad spicy tannins. There is a charming creamy texture that adds to the mouthfeel giving it generosity and character.
At Welcome Center Croatia, we can help you taste some of the most beautiful Croatian wines, while assisting you with accommodation, transportation, and anything else you might need during your stay in Croatia.
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