2006 in Croatia considered excellent

by eljko Suhadolnik

Were it not for spring rains in certain regions that affected flowering and hail storms in August and early October, the vintage 2006 in Croatia would be unanimously considered excellent. Now, although the general evaluation of quality remains high, the quantity is down. The early fears that hail damage in August would affect quality were nullified by the sunny autumn weather. The October storms, however, completely destoyed, among others, the crop on the southern slopes of the Hvar island where Ivan Dolac grows Plavac mali.

As many vintners harvested late, those who were spared brought in grapes with high sugar levels and lively acidity, so that most Croatian enologists evauate the total quality from four to five stars across the country\'s many growing regions. Quantity, however, is down about ten percent to 1,8 million hectolitres. Although exact data on total plantings and annual wine production do not exist , the Ministry of the Agriculture, Forestry and Water Resources estimates that there are about 50,000 hectares under the vine, about 40,000 of which are in full production, bringing in 3 million tones of grapes that make, on averages, some 2 million hectolitres of wine.

 

 

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