by eljko Suhadolnik
For years, western wine investments in the eastern European countries that once formed the socialist block bypassed Croatia. Now its turn has come. Freixenet, the Spanish cava producer from Catalonia, has formed a joint-venture there in Slavonia. With a local businessmen of German origin, Karl Schmidt, the wine importer Vivat and Partners from Zagreb as well as the winemaking family Lukacevic from Kutjevo, they plan a to build a winery in Lukavec near the town of Slatina in eastern Slavonia that will be called Cavallino. Construction will begin in the spring of 2007. Cavallino, which means little horse, will also be the brand, whose labels will sport the drawing of a horse in a movement.
A presentation of the future winery was held recently in Zagreb in presence of the family Ferrer, the owners of Freixenet and the architect Sonja Petrinjak from the Zagreb s architectural office Petrinjak. Located 150 meters above sea level, the winery will be set in beautiful natural surroundings which include 50 hectares of woods and another 30 of vines planted with Grasevina (Welsh Riesling), Traminer, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir and Frankovka (Blaufrankisch). Well integrated into the picturesque countryside, the winery is intended to be a tourist draw. For visitors there will be large terraces, a restaurant and a conference room with a transparent floor above the barrel room.
Drawing on local grape resources, Cavallino will produce 7.4 million bottles per year, of which 2.1 million will be sparkling wines. After testing local grapes for their ability to produce interesting fizz, Freixenet s staff plans to emphasise Grasevina. Although cultivated today mainly in Central Europe northern Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and parts of Serbia some experts believe that this grape variety may be of French origin, even from the Marne, and laud it for its ability to produce a wide range of different wines, in particular bubbly, as the Austrian producer Schlumberger from Vienna has proven.
