Some very good news for Croatian wines comes from Great Britain! One of the most prominent and internationally renowned Croatian wineries, Miloš from the peninsula of Pelješac, has recently been given another important mark of recognition. They have been invited to present their wines, more specifically Stagnumlabel (vintages from 2007 all the way back to 1993) at the Oxford Wine Circle, the oldest student wine association in the world. Only the leading wineries of the world, such as the legendary Chateau Margaux, Chateau Haut-Brion, Chateau Mouton-Rothschild, Krug Chamapgne, Antinori… have ever presented their best wines before the members of this esteemed Circle.
However, the invitation to come to Oxford has come as no surprise to the Miloš family, since the members of the Oxford Wine Circle were their guests last summer on Pelješac, when they had a chance to meet the family and get to know them and their wines and vineyards more closely. The result was a visit of the Miloš family and their wines to Oxford, as the first winery from our region to be invited. The president of the Oxford Wine Circle, Chase Coffin-Roggeven, said that Croatia should be an example to the other lesser known wine producing countries when it comes to the style of their wine.
It was a great compliment when he actually compared a Miloš wine, namely Stagnum, to the classic Italian Barolo. Special praise went to the Stagnum from 1993 which was Coffin-Roggeven’s own favourite. – “One of the greatest wines I have had a pleasure of tasting in recent years” – were his exact words. Ivan Miloš, son of the founder Frano, said that his family has taken thirty years to prove that the peninsula of Pelješac, in a country that is not widely recognized as wine producing, can be the home of a truly great wine. – “When the Oxford Wine Circle wants to organize the exclusive tasting of your wines it really means a lot, and it is proof that we must have been doing something right” – said Ivan, proud that their wines have been present on the British market for a while now – in established restaurants and upscale shops like Harvey Nichols.
I am also proud of the Miloš family, one of the first wine making families I have ever met back in the eighties, and regulars at our Pink Day Zagreb by WOW, International festival of rosé wines. I am waiting for them to attend again next year, on the 11th of March in the Mimara Museum.
