Producing any fine sparkling wine takes years, but creating this particular one, derived from a base wine made in an amphora, was an especially long and complex process. The grapes were first macerated (soaked) in their own juice for six months inside an amphora buried in the ground, with occasional stirring.
It takes years
Then was the wine pressed and left to age for another year and a half in a large wooden barrel. It was then bottled and underwent a secondary fermentation to create the bubbles, a process that took nearly another year. Consequently, a wine like this cannot reach the market until at least three years after the harvest, though it often takes even longer. This complex process is evident in the glass.
I frowned a bit, thought deeply, and then savored it, though I remained silent, when I first tasted it. That is the memory of my first encounter with this amphora-aged sparkling wine. Three months later, I could barely hold back a torrent of praise, and after another three, during a third tasting, it became clear to me that with this amphora sparkling wine, the Tomac family had surpassed even their still amphora wines and their previous sparklings, which were already among the best in Croatia.
Not even a decade is too long
Decanter editors and panel chairs described it as a complex, boundary-pushing wine, ranking it among the most exciting examples. It is rustic and displays oxidative notes. The nose reveals aromas of orange, caramel, toasted bread and autumn fruit, while the palate offers freshness, marmalade, and tannins. It is a complex, boundary-pushing wine, they wrote in 2016. and recommended drinking it between 2017 and 2020.
The Tomac family even took their amphora-aged sparkling wine on one of their regular trips to Champagne, presenting it at the renowned Selosse estate. After tasting it, Anselme Selosse purchased two clay vessels and used them to age the base wine for his 2015 vintage Champagne.
Chardonnay and heritage varieties
One hundred percent natural, was the motto that drove Zvonimir and Tomislav Tomac to experiment, partially replacing barrels with amphorae during the mid-2000s. This ancient technique originates from Georgia but has been slightly adapted for modern times, primarily for hygiene reasons. After harvest, the grapes are left for months in an amphora buried in the ground at a constant temperature, with the vessel opened and the contents stirred only occasionally. Following maceration and fermentation on the skins, the wine is removed from the amphorae around Easter, pressed, and transferred to large oak barrels to rest. It then matures there for about a year and a half.
Sulfur and fining agents are generally not used in the production of amphora wines, so the wine may appear slightly cloudy. Even vineyard management relies solely on natural methods. The grapes for the amphora wines came from the Starjak vineyard, where the vines were planted in the interwar period. The sparkling Amphora blend consisted of roughly half Chardonnay, alongside old varieties such as Šipelj, Žuti Plavec, Zeleni Silvanac, Neuburger, Veltlinac, Kraljevina, and Graševina.
Aromas reminiscent of cognac
The still amphora wines also boast deep color and powerful, opulent aromas, reminiscent of fine cognacs, combined with a distinct, pleasant freshness. This acidity ensures the wine can age in the bottle for at least five years, during which time it will continue to improve. It is not a typical wine to pair with a meal, but rather one for special occasions, serious conversations about wine, or quiet contemplation. The packaging is equally fitting.
The Tomac family sourced a special bottle and commissioned an elegant black label featuring a gold letter T, a design that won them the Cropack packaging award in May 2010. Their shift to amphorae led them to discontinue production of their renowned Chardonnay Premier. Instead, they used the grapes from that variety partly for amphora-aged wines and partly for sparklings.
The first amphora wine for friends only
The renowned Joško Gravner, a Slovenian living and working on the Italian side of the border in the Collio region, produced the first modern amphora wine using a 5,000-year-old technique. In Croatia, the first person to age wine in amphorae was Mirko Ivančić, a relative of the Tomac family who began importing the vessels from Georgia. However, that wine was intended solely for friends, he did not sell it. Marino Markežić Kabola from Momjan was the first to bring amphora wines to the market, doing so with 2005 harvest.
The cover photo shows Zvonimir Tomac and Joško Gravner at the company Imaht, which began importing amphorae from Georgia to Europe.