Kabola Unica Malvazija 2020

The Kabola estate is located in Kanedol, near Momjan, in the north-west of the Istrian peninsula, at around 275 metres above sea level and a few kilometres from the Adriatic, with a clear view as far as the Alps and the Dolomites. Vines have been grown here since 1891. The plots lie on white clay and marl soils, which give the wines a fine minerality, under a Mediterranean climate cooled by continental influences.

The vines are farmed under certified organic methods. The hand-harvested Malvazija Istarska grapes macerate for around a week on their skins before being pressed. The wine is then aged for around a year on the lees in large 4,000-litre Slavonian oak foudres, which give it breadth and complexity without masking the fruit.

This wine reveals notes of ripe pear, dried hay, dried almond, dried fig, quince, chamomile, acacia honey and fresh butter. The straw colour with golden glints heralds a dry, warm and supple palate that retains fine freshness and delicate tannins. Full and mineral, it ends on a note of bitter almond.

Croatia may be a very young state, but it is a very old wine country. Wine in Croatia has a long, long history. Vines have been grown here since Antiquity. They were introduced around 5 centuries BC by the Greeks, who planted the first vines in southern Dalmatia, particularly on the islands, whose rocky slopes plunging steeply into an indigo sea were unsuited to any other form of farming. Today the country is enjoying a real renaissance, a direct result of the independence won just over 25 years ago (on 21 June 1991). It has allowed a young, dynamic generation of winegrowers to emerge, firmly resolved to revive a thousand-year-old tradition that was under threat. As in France, wines are strictly labelled according to their origin. There are some 300 official wine regions, generally divided into coastal and inland wines. Most wines are white and are produced inland, while red wines are produced along the coast. Although there are hundreds of grape varieties in Croatia, experts agree that the red Plavac Mali grape produces the best red wine. Plavac Mali is a genetic descendant of Zinfandel, a grape that clearly originates from Croatia and not from Italy, as was long believed. Croatia's sweet Prošek wine is made notably from the white Bogdanuša grape. Istrian Malvazija and Pošip from Korčula produce Croatia's most renowned white wines.