A Sicilian native in a village near Momjan produces the first Istrian craft vinegar, one of the best we’ve tried.
In Dragočevac, at the region’s first registered vinegar factory, owned by Ivan Catalan, vinegar and aged must are produced from indigenous varieties from their own vineyard.
Tenuta Tre Terre, or the estate on three lands, is located in Dragočevac, a hamlet in the valley near Momjan. It has been there since 2005 when it was bought and renovated, and eventually in 2019, a house was built, the home of Ivan Catalan, a construction entrepreneur born in Taormina, Sicily, and his family. Ivan has been in Istria for 25 years, where he fell in love, got married, and had three daughters. This 4-hectare estate has been thoroughly cleared and planted with 8000 grapevines, 1500 lavenders, rosemary, sage, and other Mediterranean herbs.
While we wait for Ivan to return from work, the young oenologist Nina Vičić, also the manager of the estate, introduces us to it and explains how Tre Terre got its name because of three types of soil, red, white, and brown. She also shows us the young vineyard dominated by Istrian indigenous varieties – Malvasia, Teran, and Momjan Muscat. However, the main product will not be wine but wine vinegar. This is, in fact, the first registered vinegar factory (acetaia) in the region producing the first Istrian craft vinegar.
They currently offer three vinegars under the common brand Nota:
Forte Bianco, made from Malvasia, aged for 5-6 months in wooden barrels where acetification also occurs. Forte Nero made from black grapes, in this case typical varieties such as Teran and Burgundy.
Andante, aged grape must three years old, made according to Italian technology like balsamic vinegar.
Read the full article on Dobra Hrana : https://www.jutarnji.hr/dobrahrana/price/rodeni-sicilijanac-u-zaseoku-pored-momjana-proizvodi-prvi-istarski-craft-ocat-jedan-je-od-boljih-koje-smo-probali-15433787#&gid=1&pid=11