Took this wine to share w/ Emilio&Laura Castelli last Sat night at dinner:
1. Kozlovic Malvazija Croatia (13.0%; Vinum USA Imprts; www.kozlovic.hr) Kozlovic Estate Vintners/Buje/Istria 2018: Light gold color; pleasant light Malvasia/muscatty/floral some stony/chalky/mineral nose; lightly tart bit off-dry (0.5% r.s?) slight tangy/metallic light Malvasia/floral/muscatty bit Sprite-like soda pop pleasant flavor; med.long lightly tart light quiet Malvasia/muscatty/floral slight stony/chalky finish; a pleasant enough rather quiet/low-key expression of Malvasia bordering on the bland side. $19.00 (BB)
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. This was a new Croatian producer I stumbled upon in BottleBarn/SantaRosa. The WebSite indicates that it is a quite modern operation, but started in 1904. This wine suffers the same fate of most Croatian wines...too many consonants and not enough vowels in the label.
Malvazija is Malvasia d'Istriana, a grape native to the Istrian Peninsula. Planted widely in Croatia/Slovenia/Friuli. It is one of my favorite grapes because it doesn't have that strong/overpowering tutti-fruti character of MalvasiaBianca. A much more restrained/subtle expression of the Malvasia grape. A grape they should be planting all up&down the Coast of Calif.
Tom