According to the latest news, the latest “it” wines come not from France or Spain but further away — from Croatia, Moldova, Bulgaria and Turkey. These regions have recently come to the attention of sommeliers and with the combined forces of high quality indigenous grapes and affordable prices, this comes as no surprise.
Experts say that wine has been deeply entrenched in the Croatian lifestyle for over 25 centuries, although it has only come to international attention recently. With a new generation of winemakers working hard to preserve Crotia’s indigenous varieties, such as graševina, malvasia istriana, and plavac mali, there’s much for wine lovers to sample here.
From Moldova, the wines that have been feted are the feteasca alba (an aromatic white) or feteasca neagra (a complex red) — but these are relatively rare. Bulgaria, too, is considered to have one of the oldest winemaking traditions in the world, but has received global recognition only lately. Wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and Viognier, as well as the native grape Mavrud (a rich red) are especially of note.
