Vin de Rosa: a new Croatian Slow Food Presidium presented at Sana Slow Wine Fair

A new Croatian Presidium—Vin de Rosa—has been officially presented at the Sana Slow Wine Fair, the international event dedicated to good, clean and fair wine. The Fair, which is also the first international meeting of the Slow Wine Coalition, is taking place in Bologna (Italy) until March 29. Vin de Rosa is the third Croatian Presidium and the second relating to wine and grape varietals; the other is a highly concentrated grape syrup, Pelješac Varenik,.

Vin de Rosa originates from an ancient tradition of the town of Dignano, in Istria County. It is made with dried and pressed grapes of the Istrian Malvasia, Rosé Muscat, White Muscat and Yellow Muscat varieties, and may be made with any single variety vinification or as a blend. The result is a sweet wine with an aromatic profile reminiscent of roses, hence the name. It has an antique orange-copper color, a soft taste and an elegant body which offers an excellent balance between acidity, alcohol and sugar. This traditional wine is, however, at risk of extinction. There was a time when almost every family in Dignano produced it with their own grapes, but as younger generations abandon the area and move to bigger cities, this connection with winemaking traditions is lost.

“We are very proud of this Presidium, which celebrates a wine made with the best grapes we have and keeps us connected with our traditions and our land”, says Dino Babic, the Presidium coordinator. “Normally we open a bottle of Vin de Rosa when we celebrate something important, like a birth, a wedding or Christmas. The creation of the new Presidium is indeed an occasion worth toasting with the best bottle we have! And we would like to dedicate that toast to the commitment and passion of the Slow Food Community of Vodnjan, who made this Presidium possible.”

How it’s made

To produce Vin de Rosa the loosest, healthiest grape bunches are chosen, placed in trays and then on mats to dry in well-aired spaces for three months. When the grape bunches have lost half their weight, the grapes are pressed together in a strucolo. The grape juice is then collected and stored in demijohns to extract the flavors and aromas of the wine through slow fermentation. After a year, the wine is filtered and bottled, where it continues to evolve. The first literary references to Vin de Rosa date from the middle of the 19th century, stressing its importance for celebrations in the individual and collective lives of the local community.

At the Sana Slow Wine Fair you can also meet the producers of Pelješac Varenik, the other Slow Food Presidium wine from Croatia, which has a strong, sweet and fruity Marsala flavor with notes of honey.

The Vin de Rosa Slow Food Presidium has been made possible thanks to the support of Intesa Sanpaolo Charity Fund and of the EU LIFE programme.