{"id":9304,"date":"2023-05-31T13:23:17","date_gmt":"2023-05-31T07:53:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/?p=9304"},"modified":"2023-06-06T06:57:28","modified_gmt":"2023-06-06T01:27:28","slug":"item_2_932","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/item_2_932\/","title":{"rendered":"CMB2023: Memorable Wine Tasting Trip of Croatia (Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"9304\" class=\"elementor elementor-9304\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-4720b6a elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"4720b6a\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-33 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-53f09f7\" data-id=\"53f09f7\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-70aab53 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"70aab53\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.15.0 - 20-08-2023 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<p>Posted: Wednesday, 31 May 2023 14:13<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-33 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-ad9e937\" data-id=\"ad9e937\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-33 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-cccb2a7\" data-id=\"cccb2a7\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1b4aea3 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"1b4aea3\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<u>If you Like this article, please click\n<iframe style=\"border: none; overflow: hidden; width: 120px; height: 21px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/like.php?app_id=173955395995712&amp;href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fwineguyindia&amp;send=false&amp;layout=button_count&amp;width=120&amp;show_faces=false&amp;action=like&amp;colorscheme=light&amp;font=arial&amp;height=21\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/u>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-9669605 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"9669605\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-b62f3ec\" data-id=\"b62f3ec\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c0e78f1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"c0e78f1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col-sm-12\">\n<h1 class=\"articlepagetitle_heading\"><span style=\"color: #990000;\">CMB2023: <\/span>Memorable Wine Tasting Trip of Croatia (Part 1)<\/h1>\n<div class=\"articlepageintroline\">May 31: A group of 20 international journalists (G-20) invited to judge at Concours Mondial di Bruxelles (CMB) in Pore\u010d were packed off on 15 May for an incredibly interesting 3-day experiential tour through parts of North Croatia and Dalmatia to get an exposure to their land, climate and wineries, before being dropped at Zagreb exited after an exciting trip that gave the group an opportunity to taste wines from several autochthonous grapes, some gems grown only in a small area, writes Cav. Subhash Arora who was a part of the trip organised by Vinistra in collaboration with CMB and describes visit on Day 1 .<\/div>\n<div class=\"articledata\">\n<p><strong>Day 1- May 15<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_lft\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-lft\" style=\"width: 259px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-06-01-at-08.18.59.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-9329\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 1px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-06-01-at-08.18.59-279x300.jpeg\" alt=\"Vrbnik Village. Croatia is full of such villages and small towns\" width=\"259\" height=\"278\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-06-01-at-08.18.59-279x300.jpeg 279w, https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-06-01-at-08.18.59-954x1024.jpeg 954w, https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-06-01-at-08.18.59-768x825.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-06-01-at-08.18.59-1024x1100.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-06-01-at-08.18.59.jpeg 1192w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 259px) 100vw, 259px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-lft\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vrbnik Village. Croatia is full of such villages and small towns<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>We left <strong>Hotel Parentium Plava Laguna<\/strong> (Pava Laguna is Croatian for Blue Beach but in this case it\u2019s the name of the Resort Developing company having multitudes of hotels with confusing names-mostly in the vicinity of each other) in Pore\u010d in a luxury coach for the 3-day trip taking us from Istria to <strong>Opatija<\/strong> in Kvarner and then to <strong>Krk Island<\/strong> visiting the cities of <strong>Vrbnik, Marinska<\/strong>, <strong>Krk, Novi Vinodolski <\/strong>&nbsp;and then to <strong>\u0160ibenik<\/strong> in <strong>Dalmatia<\/strong> from where <strong>Zagreb<\/strong> was the ultimate destination; visiting&nbsp; wineries, restaurants and hotels on the way<\/p>\n<p>making it a dream visit through the coastal areas with Tastings that were complementary to the earlier judging at Concours Mondial de Bruxelles&nbsp; on 12-14 May.<\/p>\n<p>After leaving Pore\u010d and Istria by coach we arrived <strong>Opatija<\/strong> after about 2 hours, where we were given a walking tour of this city built in 1884 and popularized by Austria and Italy. It was a part of Austria-Hungary Empire before World War I, ceded to Italy in 1919 and Yugoslavia after World War II. It was known for its Austrian Riviera in Europe.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lunch and Tasting at Bevanda in Opatija<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The city walk culminated at <strong>Restaurant Bevanda<\/strong> which is now a part of the 10-room boutique Hotel Bevanda. The luxury sea-facing restaurant is extremely charming and chic. We were greeted by <strong>Klaudio Jur\u0107i\u0107<\/strong> (pronounced you<em>-r-chich<\/em>) who served and explained to us the wines of <strong>Kvarner. <\/strong>The Restaurant was really world-class, serving us excellent vegan fare. The wine cellar is also extremely impressive. Istrian <strong>Malvazija<\/strong> (Malvasia) whites and <strong>Teran<\/strong> reds, and a crisp white <strong>\u017dlahtina<\/strong> from <strong>Krk<\/strong> welcomed us.The first hotel in the city \u2013<strong>Quarnero<\/strong> (Kvarner) was opened in 1884 and is currently undergoing refurbishing, as we walked past it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Visiting Krk Island<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We rode towards <strong>Krk Island<\/strong>-almost the biggest island in Croatia which boasts of over 1000 islands The Croatian archipelago lies along the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea, with 49 inhabited islands, all of which are located relatively close to the shore. Travel to these islands is by ferry except <strong>Krk Island<\/strong> which was also connected with Opatija through the city of <strong>Rijeka<\/strong> by a 1.5 km long Arch Bridge known as Krk Bridge, built in 1980.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Wines of Vrbnik<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_lft\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-lft\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-06-03-at-22.36.39.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-9498 size-medium\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 1px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-06-03-at-22.36.39-300x225.jpeg\" alt=\"Katunar Estate Winery in Vrbnik\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-06-03-at-22.36.39-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-06-03-at-22.36.39-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-06-03-at-22.36.39-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-06-03-at-22.36.39.jpeg 1152w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-lft\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Katunar Estate Winery in Vrbnik<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>After a scenic ride on both sides of the road-most of us could not risk a shut eye lest we missed some of the beautiful natural sights, we arrived at the village of <strong>Vrbnik<\/strong> where we visited <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/katunar.hr\/hr\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #990000;\">Katunar Estate winery<\/span><\/a><\/strong> just on the edge of the town.. <strong>\u017dlahtina<\/strong> is a rare white local grape which is being cultivated by 6-8 producers in the area and these are the only ones in the world that &nbsp;make this delicious white wine which may be dry to slightly off-dry with a lot of personality. As primed by the Sommelier in Opatija earlier in the day, the red varietal <strong>Sansigot<\/strong> is the exclusive domain of this village too.<\/p>\n<p>The roads are so small in Vrbnik that it was not feasible to drive to our hotel and indeed most places by coach. We were taken to our hotel in a combustion engine-run toy train which afforded us the view of the town and its residences. A small group of us was taken to <strong>Hotel Verbenicum.<\/strong> The hotel was beautiful with a 270 degree view. After checking in at the boutique property where we were treated to a local specialty, fig schnapps and a sparkling wine <strong>Nada<\/strong> <strong>Soubze Brut<\/strong> made from \u017dlahtina grapes in the traditional method (zingy, fruity, fresh and elegant bubbly) by Vinarija<strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nada-vrbnik.hr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #990000;\">Nada<\/span><\/a>. <\/strong>We walked to the second winery, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/kucavina-ivankatunar.com\/kontakt\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #990000;\">Ivan Katunar Winery<\/span><\/a><\/strong> which seemed to be bigger and better organised than the previous one, with a bigger choice. The winery visit and a chance meeting with <strong>Ivan Katunar<\/strong>, the man himself, was very educational. The well-laid cheese platters were very impressive-especially as they had laid out one for the vegetarians-it was nice to sit alone at the setting for 4 and enjoy the view of the Mediterranean village around the bell tower.<\/p>\n<p><strong>These shoes are made for walking <\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_lft\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-lft\" style=\"width: 225px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-06-03-at-22.34.05.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-9497 size-medium\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 1px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 1px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-06-03-at-22.34.05-225x300.jpeg\" alt=\"Touted as the narrowest street in the world is in Vrbnik\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-06-03-at-22.34.05-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-06-03-at-22.34.05-768x1023.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-06-03-at-22.34.05-1153x1536.jpeg 1153w, https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-06-03-at-22.34.05-1024x1364.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-06-03-at-22.34.05.jpeg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-lft\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Touted as the narrowest street in the world is in Vrbnik<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>From the winery we walked through the old town of over 900 years, through winding, narrow streets, one of them being only 40 cm wide and touted as the narrowest street in the world. Going past the famous bell tower, one finds oneself in the restaurant <strong>Konoba Nada<\/strong> known as much for its quality seafood as jazz concerts in summer, outside its wine shop, facing <strong>Vinodol Gulf. <\/strong>We were welcomed with the same Nada Soubze Brut by the <strong>owner\u2019s grandson<\/strong> who works with his wife and looks after the restaurant presently owned by his octogenarian grandmother who is related to the owner of Hotel Verbenicum. The view from the platform on the water was surreal, accentuated by the quality bubbly with distinct bready notes.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dinner at Konoba Nada<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_lft\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-lft\" style=\"width: 350px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-06-03-at-22.31.56.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-9495\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 1px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-06-03-at-22.31.56-300x138.jpeg\" alt=\"Tasting of Nada Soubze Brut by our group with Vinodol Gulf in the background\" width=\"350\" height=\"162\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-06-03-at-22.31.56-300x138.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-06-03-at-22.31.56-1024x473.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-06-03-at-22.31.56-768x354.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-06-03-at-22.31.56-1536x709.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.indianwineacademy.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-06-03-at-22.31.56.jpeg 1599w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-lft\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tasting of Nada Soubze Brut by our group with Vinodol Gulf in the background<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The dinner at the <strong>Nada Restaurant<\/strong> was exquisite with a group of Mexican mariachi singers (Actually Croatians who specialize in this genre of Mexican folk music but have won several awards in Mexican competitions) regaling our group at the private dinner. &nbsp;A blizzard like situation had arisen by the time we had our dessert and the 10-minute walk to the hotel that followed was literally cutting into the heavy, wet and gusty winds- a forgettable and unpleasant experience, with no internet and hence a non-operational GPS to guide us back to the hotel.<\/p>\n<p>Activities on Day 2 and 3 will be in Part 2 to be released next week.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Subhash Arora<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"articledata\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Posted: Wednesday, 31 May 2023 14:13 If you Like this article, please click CMB2023: Memorable Wine Tasting 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