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An Evening with Alen Bibić Part 2

Posted 08 01 2007 by miquel    0 Comments
 
Over a summer, two travelers drink their way through the wines of Mediterranean Europe
    
tables
Alante - The Restaurant.
    This is a continuation of Part 1 where we talked about the history and how Bibich winery came about. Now, let's get in to the fun of the wines we tasted.
food2
The Bodulski
    We started with the Debit 2006. It's a very fresh white wine with a peachy nose and a slight bit of acidity. The finish has a bit of dryness that moves more in to some mineral tones as it breathes. Moreover, the wine does very well when chilled a bit, as there are sweet tones that come out from it, that you don't taste unless at the proper temperature.
    We then moved in to the another white, the Debit Lučica 2005, which is actually very hard to come by because it sells out fast with just 1,800 bottles produced. There is a bit more citrus to the nose and a lovely, natural honey tones. The nose slips right in to the body, but loses a bit of the honey. This tricky honey part then comes back to great you again in the finish. The wine cleans up wonderfully and is one of the finest whites that we've ever tasted.
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    We then moved in to the reds with Riserva 2005, which is always a Bibich that we personally keep stocked up on at home because it never disappoints. The nose has some soft berries in it with a good dose of oak. The body is lovely and round. Little bits of sweetness creep in, but are artfully subtle and well-managed. As is the signature with Bibich wines, it finished perfectly and is very pleasing.
    Next was the Mantra Grenache 2005. We had had the 2004 before and this vintage takes that very solid wine and improves upon it. The nose is dry with some oak and tobacco. It's deep and meaty. There are little touches of chocolate to the body. Mint pops in there as well and of course, the finish is flawless. It's a very complex wine that is still easy to drink and enjoy for everyone.
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    We closed with the Sangreal Shiraz 2004. This wine starts out lighter than the others. The subtleness in the nose gives way to some buttery aromas as the wine gets some air in it. The body is nice and crisp. Round berries come in to the body as you drink it more and you start to realize how deep the body actually is, given that this is a Shiraz. The last tones to come out are bits of pepper. We need to add that all of this is encased in the lovely ruby red color of the wine. Very well done.
    Alen Bibić has learned his craft well. It was amazing to us that he is just in his early 30's and has managed to accomplish all of this in a very short time. It is a credit to the winemaking spirit of both his and his wife's family as well as the fact that he is a winemaker to watch and whose vintages should grace your cellar.
Tags: bibich    croatia    debit    europe travels    plavina    skradin   

 

An Evening with Alen Bibić Part 1

Posted 08 01 2007 by elia    0 Comments
 
Over a summer, two travelers drink their way through the wines of Mediterranean Europe
    
town
The town of Skradin.
    The Bibić Family have always been outsiders to some degree. Wine has been in their blood for a long time, but they've never really played by the rules. For instance, when everyone else was selling to the collectives during Yugoslavia, they didn't. When everyone else stopped making wine in Skradin because of war, they didn't, making them one of the very few producers in the region currently. And when everyone started spelling their names with a 'ć' instead of 'ch', they named their wines Bibich, instead of Bibić. These may seem like small things to the casual observer, but it was our opinion that they are the points in life and history that defined winemaking for the Bibić family today and specifically for the man at the helm, Alen Bibić.
alen
Alen Bibić
    We had the incredibly good fortune to sit down with him for several hours in his lovely new wine bar and restaurant (actually a joint partnership called, 'Alante'- Alen and his friend Ante) in Skradin for a meal and a taste of his wines.
    Skradin is in and of itself a different kind of place. Located near Šibenik, about an hour south of Zadar, although Skradin is near the coast it is a bit inland and has a totally different feel than most coastal towns along Dalmacia. During the times of Yugoslavia it was an ethnically mixed area, comprised of both Croatians and Serbs, so it saw a good deal of strife, conflict, and blood during the war of the 1990's that made Yugoslavia no more. Out of this, in 1995 at the mere age of 22, Alen Bibić picked up winemaking from his grandfather and set about building up the business properly. It wasn't easy going. His first had to clear the fields of mines to start re-growing the vines. Then he has to rebuild the old house and cellar that were his family's. Then, he had to get his wines recognized.
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A pršut dish.
    It was the last part that was probably the most difficult, since Croatian wines, until the last five years or so, weren't that highly regarded outside of the country. While many of his compatriots were selling out their stock domestically, Alen wasn't and with good reason: his wines are very different from normal Croatian wines. Once again, the fact that the Bibich family does things differently came in to play. While this could hurt many a winemaker because their wines never get a market, it seemed to only help Alen for in our opinion, his wines take on much more New World characteristics. They're deep, complex, smooth, earthy, and well, just delicious in a way that is different from what is standard Croatian fare. This probably explains why the vast majority of his vintages are exported.
    But, enough about the history of the Bibich winery (you can't drink that), let's move on to the wines in Part 2.
Tags: bibich    croatia    debit    europe travels    plavina    skradin   

 

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