Croatian Wine - The Grand Cro Press Tour

So we moved from our Airbnb into a hotel in Zagreb. We're going to start a four-day, I think it's four, four-day press tour through the four major wine regions of Croatia. I have to say it's a little bit odd, even though we stay in Zagreb a lot and we know Zagreb really well, we usually stay outside the historical center. So it's kind of weird now we're in the downtown core of the old, the old city, we feel like tourists. A lot of stuff is a little bit unfamiliar. So weird to see Zagreb from this perspective, right? Yeah, it's like the back side of Zagreb, or the front side of Zagreb. We've been stuck in the back side. Press tour is exactly like school food fair. Wait in line for the candy, right? The only opportunity. These trips always have late nights and start with early mornings. We had to wake up at 7 a.m. It's almost 8 right now and we're going out for a market, for a market walk in the Dolac market to try some traditional foods for breakfast. Let's see what they got. For the others, welcome back again. You like that? I always feel good when I come to Slavonia. It's kind of a pain in the butt to get out here, but I don't know, maybe because it's rural and like farmland, heartland, wholesome wine region maybe. Make the jump, make the jump. The Krasivina here in Croatia is more produced with a lower temperature at the fermentation, so that gives the wines more fruitiness instead of the Austrian wines. So we got done with the master class, you tired? I've got my food, so you should take it out. Yeah, I know, but you should take it out. Best part of the trip, eating the regional food, some truffles. You excited? I thought you were talking to me. Oh yeah? They found so many ways to pronounce the character of the grape now that you don't really know exactly the character. And as we, for instance, tasted at the Menegheti winery, if you work on it and if you really study the grape variety, you can reach gorgeous results. That's the fun part about press trips, the 6.45 a.m. wake up call and leave. We're gonna be on the bus and head to Dalmatia. Last day of the press trip here in Croatia. We're last full day. Here's the view from our hotel in Skradin. The wines are so deep and so intense and they offer so much fruit and complexity. I really love them. They're great. I think this is the strength of Plavac Mali because it's very unique and I like really unique wines. It has a little bit of a Grenache, it has a little bit of Nebbiolo, it's a European wine. It's in between France and Italy. It's still very much a work in progress. I wouldn't say the Croatian wine story is done yet. It's still in evolution. But what's so encouraging to see is the amount of passion and the amount of innovation and sort of imagination that Croatian winemakers are implementing to see what boundaries they can push and see what what they can get out of this tour, what they can get out of these indigenous varieties to make Croatia a unique wine story. After a crazy five days going all around Croatia, spending about five six hours a day on the bus, we're heading to Slovenia for the Modri Le Noir. So check it out!