Pairing wines and oily fish with top chefs in Poreč restaurants

At today's press conference held in Poreč at the Hrast restaurant, the second edition of the wine and gastronomy event was announced. "Cabernet Sauvignon & bluefish, with love".

They talked about the topic. Nenad Velenik, director of the Tourist Board of Poreč, Loris Peršurić, Mayor of the City of Poreč, Emil Perdec, sommelier and F&B Manager of Blue Lagoon, Sandy Paris, chief sommelier and beverage specialist of the Valamar hotel chain and member of the executive board of the Croatian Sommelier Club and Ph.D. Marijan Bubola, from the Institute of Agriculture and Tourism in Poreč. The first dinner will be held on November 8th at the Hrast restaurant, which has been serving family tradition and local food since 1971, with a magical ambience in close proximity to the sea and the old town of Poreč.

"This event was created at a creative meeting and was organized with a lot of love and attention in order to complete the program offer in the post-season. The first edition showed that there is an exceptional interest in this kind of content, so we are continuing in the same vein, with excellent collaborators, restaurants and chefs. Our desire is to provide our dear fellow citizens and guests of Poreč and the Poreč region with additional content and program and to intrigue them to try something new, something that is woven into our identity. Every year we rotate restaurants and chefs because we want to give all winemakers and caterers the opportunity to participate in the creation of this unique eno-gastronomic content. Since the month of November is ideal for discovering this exciting story, this will be a great opportunity to learn about the interesting history of this wine variety that shone in Istria and its connection with blue fish. On behalf of the Poreč Tourist Board, I invite you to reserve a place for dinner in your desired restaurants in time so that you can enjoy the menus prepared with great care.", said the director of the Poreč Tourist Board Nenad Velenik.

"This event is dedicated to local flavors and traditions because oily fish has been a symbol of food in Istria for generations, along with wine through which we pay tribute to our hardworking winemakers. Three famous Poreč restaurants are participating in the event, so I invite all our fellow citizens and visitors, as well as our dear guests, to join in and support our local caterers.", emphasized the Mayor of the City of Poreč Loris Peršurić.

Project named Cabernet Sauvignon and bluefish with love was created by bringing together like-minded people and top chefs, sommeliers who have seen and tried this combination of a special wine variety and the simplicity that a dish made from oily fish brings to the table. But of course, in this eno-gastronomic story, wine and fish are presented in a different and interesting way that will guarantee all participants unforgettable experiences of taste and smell. Dishes for these special evenings dedicated to Cabernet Sauvignon and oily fish will be prepared by some of the most important Croatian chefs, such as Zdravko Tomšić, Goran Hrastovčak and Robert Benzia and Jurica Obrol.

Emil Perdec He emphasized that blue fish and red wines are a long-standing love, and this combination has been sung in many songs, and the idea for this event came about in 2020.

"As Cabernet Sauvignon is the most planted wine variety in the world, and it came to Poreč in 1884, we wanted to tell the wider public about this topic and present it in a contemporary way. Through this story, we tried to play around with gastronomy and move away from standard pairings, revive this historical connection between oily fish and Cabernet Sauvignon, and show the potential and breadth of our region. We strive to involve external collaborators and always give the audience something new, and in this way we ourselves discover the beauty of pairing these ingredients and selected wines.", concludes Perdec.

"I am very pleased that we are now traditionally participating in this event and I believe that this will continue. This year, Valamar will continue with our established team led by chef Goran Hrastovčak, and the wines will be presented by sommelier Zoran Gregorović. I am sure that this team in front of the Spinnaker restaurant and Valamar will do it with love. It is interesting that through this event we are giving deserved attention to oily fish, and I hope that it will be found more and more on consumers' menus.", he stressed Sandy Paris.

He talked about the winegrowing characteristics and interesting things from that segment Ph.D. Marijan Bubola, saying that in the 19th century, red wine prevailed in Istria, unlike today. emphasizing that the characteristic of this wine is a particularly lush variety that starts vegetation late and the grapes ripen late. He listed several important characteristics such as that it gives the best results in well-drained and sunny positions and on acidic soil (such as red soil), the character of the wine of this variety is particularly strong, thanks to the small berries and thick skin, so the wines are full-bodied and have an intense and deep color, a high tannin content and relatively high acidity (which is a prerequisite for long-term wine maturation).

Cabernet Sauvignon was created almost 500 years ago, by an accidental cross between Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc. Its homeland is, of course, the French Boredaux, and today Cabernet Sauvignon is the most planted grape variety in the world. Its history in Istria is also long, as long as 150 years, as is the tradition of catching and consuming oily fish, the first records of which date back to the 14th century.

The restaurants included in the project in 2024 are: Restaurant Hrast, Restaurant Spinnaker and Restaurant Sv. Nikola.

At the end of the presentation of the event, the director of the Poreč Tourist Board invited all lovers of good food and wine to book their appointment at the aforementioned restaurants and find out whether oily fish and red wine really go together. The contacts for reservations are provided below, and each dinner will start at 19 pm.