Wines from the Old Old World
There are distinct advantages to drinking the unknown. The quality to price ratio of grapes and places we can’t pronounce from places we can’t readily find on a map can often be ridiculously high. We’ll taste a winemaking method with over 8000 years of unbroken history in the Republic of Georgia, a grape only found on one island off of the Croatian coast, a relative of Zinfandel hiding in Montenegro, a Hungarian grape known for “Bulls Blood,” Biodynamics in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and a rosè made from one of Giacomo Casanova’s favorite grapes in Slovenia. All wine retails under $20!
THE LINE-UP
2013 Carič Bogdanjuša, Island of Hvar, Croatia
2013 Brkić Žilavka, Čitluk, Bosnia and Herzegovina
2012 Vinoterra Kisi, Kakheti, The Republic of Georgia
2013 Štoka Teran Rosè, Kras, Slovenia
2013 Eszterbauer Sógor Kadarka, Szekszárd, Hungary
2011 Plantaže Vranac Pro Corde, Lake Skadar, Montenegro
At 15, Eric Danch started washing dishes at The Ranch House in Ojai, California. After 4 years, multiple titles, and nightly brown bag tastings with a sommelier with over 30 years experience, he became enamored with the story, culture, and community of wine. Moving to San Francisco in 2005 after two years living in Europe (Copenhagen & Rome), he found a job at Teatro Zinzanni, a 3-hour European cabaret meets Vaudevillian circus. After working a few harvests in California, Eric combined his love for Central/Eastern Europe and wine by joining Blue Danube Wine Company in 2011.
As the gateway between East and West, Central/Eastern Europe has been largely defined by invasion, occupation and alliances despite thousands of years of winemaking. Blue Danube Wine Company was founded in 2002 by husband and wife team Frank Dietrich and Zsuzsanna Molnar in order to travel to this unique corner of the world and bring its wine culture back to the US market. Focusing on Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, and the Republic of Georgia, our goal is to seek out winemakers who truly capture the character of the land they come from. Indigenous grapes, winemaking traditions that predate Western Europe, and building meaningful long term relationships are the means to this end.
