Coronica 08 Malvasia

Roughly 80 kilometres from north to south, Istria is sparsely populated, colourfully green, hilly unspoilt countryside. Away from the popular coastline on the Mediterranean, where houses spill down slopes towards the vast smooth bay that lies between the peninsula and the mainland, stone farmhouses and villages sit in a rural landscape dotted with oak, olive and blue splashes of lavender, with pretty, hilltop towns and houses clustered around the obligatory towering Roman Catholic church spire. Much of it reminds you of central and coastal Italy. Malvazija flourishes here as a crisp dry white, a Croatian answer to Spain’s albarino or Austria’s grüner veltliner, not quite like one or the other, but occasionally resembling them, or Loire chenin blanc, especially in their refreshing dry flavours and their affinity with the local seafood and shellfish. It’s a vigorous variety so for the best results come from low-yielding vineyards. From one of Istria’s best wine producers, Coronica, this has a refreshing creamy character on the nose, and its lean streak of acidity and mineral dryness of fruit gives it an elegant fish-friendly feel.