Over a summer, two travelers drink their way through the wines of Mediterranean Europe          In the very top northwest corner of Istria is a small little tip that juts out in to the Adriatic and is where the two very small towns of Bašanija and and Savudrija. It is here that the winery of Degrassi calls home. Of course, they don't grow any of their vines here, those 15 hectares are around Buje which is much further inland to the east. But here are their cellars and tasting room. They have been doing business in this location since 2006, although the company has been around for the last 11 years. After a brief glance around, it is easily seen that the family has very good taste with everything appointed in handmade furniture and nice, dark fixtures. It's also here that we learned the difference between Refošk and Teran, which are the same grape. Is the stem of the vine is red, is is Refošk. If the stem is green, it's Teran. There were also some geographical distinctions in the past that have since faded away, leaving just the confusion about the name and the fact that Degrassi is the only maker of Teran in Istria that we found, who actually call it Refošk. So with that cleared up, let's talk about the wines.     We started with the Bomarchese 2003, which is comprised of Malvazija. The nose on it is extremely meaty, mostly from the oak aging it receives. It smells something like prosciutto, which we feel is nearly always a good thing. These aromas do come in to the body and blend with flavors that are predominantly oaky in nature. The body is smooth, but can sit a bit heavy in the mouth, but that gives way to a smooth finish.     We quickly tasted the Malvazija 2006 for comparison and found it to have a smoother nose and some chestnut aromas to it. The body is smooth and the finish rather dry. It's a rather interesting wine overall as it's quite different from any other Malvazija that we've tasted.     For reds, we started with the 2006 and the 2005 Barrique Degrassi's Refošk. The 2006 is very earthy in its base. The body is very bright though, which is atypical of other Terans/Refošks that we've had and the body is very dry. In comparison, the 2005 has a similar nose to the 2006, but naturally with a bit more oak, due to the time spent in the barrel--18 months to be exact. The body is much, much smoother and you can taste a good deal more meat to it. The finish on this one lingers for a good deal of time, which we were pleased with. Degrassi told us that they believe the wine should be aged for a minimum of five years and we would definitely agree, although base upon the two years it already had, it may even be able to stand a few more years and still be optimal.     We closed out the tasting with their Cabernet Sauvignon 2005. It's a relatively dry example of the varietal in this region. It even has a dry nose to it. The body however opens up to some really great dark cherry flavors and the finish pulls the dryness all the way through to the end. It's tasty wine, albeit a bit light for those who really thirst for heavy body of California Cab Sauvs.     While a bit out of the way from the rest of the wineries, Degrassi are making some good examples of the wines in the area and worth a visit for those putting their way along the Vinska Cesta in the area. Their tasting room alone is worth the trouble to see, as it's quite classy.

Over a summer, two travelers drink their way through the wines of Mediterranean Europe          Our first encounter with the wines of Demian and the wine maker himself, Andy Šipetić was in Novi Sad, Serbia of all places. It was somewhat logical as we were there for a visit with friends and he was there for the wine festival that they've been holding for the last fourth years. While that visit gave us an initial taste of his wines, a lunch with the wines expertly paired to the dishes, and music played by Andy (who used to tour as a guitarist for the Gypsy Kings before making wine full time) we didn't get a chance to see his winery. For that, we'd have to go to Istria and so naturally, once we got to Istria we made our way down there.     The Demian winery has been producing in one way or another for about the last 80 years. From 1928 to the 1990's, they produced bulk wine for Italian producers. For the last 14 years, they started making their own wines and the last seven has seen their brand and production grow a great deal more. They produced 25,000 liters from six hectares of land in 2006. While this isn't a tremendous amount, Andy says that they are growing and will they'll have nine hectares producing next year. For wines, they stick to the Istrian staple of Malvazija, although they toss in a bit of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon as well.     In both Novi Sad and Istria, we started tasting with the 2006 Malvazija. When comparing the two tasting, it is obvious that this is a wine best served cold. In Novi Sad it was good. The nose was soft and the body was crisp. The finish started off fine, but opened up a great deal more with air. In Istria, we had the wine at about 12C, which is the proper temperature for it. It mellows out a great deal more and is very smooth. Melon flavors come in to the body and it becomes this wine that you can finish without even thinking about. It's very pleasing to drink and have on a hot day when we were at the winery.     For comparison, we had the 2004 Malvazija. It has a tad less alcohol to it and a more earthy nose. The overall characteristics were very similar to the 2006, but the wine was more complex, especially the body, showing how age treats this wine and it treats it very well. You might even be able to age this out for five years or a bit more and have it be quite optimal for drinking, albeit drinking should always be done cold.     We then tasted the 2003 Barrique, which is comprised of 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, making it something of an inverse Claret. It's a lovely wine and predictable so given that 2003 was a very good year for this region due to a perfectly hot summer. The nose is soft, betraying subtle earthy tones that grow as you bury your nose in the glass. The body is dry, but still complex, full of flavors and a mahogany woodiness to it that is very pleasing. The barrel comes through a great deal in the overtones of the finish, roughing up the grape a good deal to make you want to keep coming back for more. It's a wine of full, bold flavors that we found delicious and had to take home a bottle of for further enjoyment.     As one of the few people we visited multiple times, we were very thankful to have bumped in to Andy for not only giving us a taste of his very well-crafted wines, but also as an impetus to make the trip down to Istria in the first place. The region is getting hot and with good reason, considering wineries like Demian producing some top notch vintages in recent years.