The story goes that Muscats are “girly” wines, “only with dessert.” But, the story also says that the Istrian ones are aphrodisiacs. Lots of stories going around! To avoid just listening to stories, sommelier Alena Stuparić, manager of the Enotaca Istriana in Pula envisioned a workshop entitled “Muscats – wines for all occasions.”
All Muscats belong to a large family with roots in the Near East from where it expanded primarily in the Mediterranean. The sort has a medium exuberance and gives excellent results in limestone, porous and warm soils in hills, at southern and warm expositions. Muscats are savoury wines with a bright green-yellow colour, often with sugar residue, harmonious, with an accented Muscat aroma. Depending on the year, they can give wines in many degrees of quality, from dry light to predicate wines with accented aromas.
Istria is the homeland of the Momjan Muscat, a specific white Muscat, the first wine in Croatia to receive a protected destination of origin label in EU. The Momjan Muscat is recorded as winning gold at the 1935 wine fair in Brussels. Dry and sweet, intensely gold in colour, with a scent reminiscent of wild carnations, rose and sage. Many connoisseurs of Istrian wines will primarily single out the Momjan Muscat. As a devoted friend of sweets, but also any refined meal.
The workshop proved Muscats fit well with all sorts of meals and cause an explosion of taste and smell. The wines were:
1. Degrassi, dry Muscat – recommendation: join with raw shrimp on rucola
2. Kabola, Momjan dry – with celery soup with black truffles
3. Geržinić, yellow Muscat
4. Damjanić, yellow Muscat
5. Degrassi, San Pellegrin, semi-sec
6. Kozlović, momjanski, semi-sweet
7. Poletti, rose, dry
8. Agrolaguna, rose
9. San Salvatore Benvenuti, dried grapes – Momjan
For the original and more from the Women on Wine association, click here.
