SoHu "Orange" Slavonija, Croatia 2024

FROM VINUM:

THE WINE: 75% Graševina, 25% Pinot Blanc. Starting with the 2024 vintage, since our friend Tomba (Tomislav Voštinić @ VK winery) makes such refreshing expressions of Graševina, we reached out to see if he would be open to making an orange wine for SoHu. Working with some Pinot Blanc he had been experimenting with in his vineyards, Tomba and Tonka agreed to produce this fresh orange wine made for us, as a blend Graševina (aka Welschriesling), and some extended skin contact Pinot Blanc for SoHu.

The result is a lively, fleshy and delicously quaffable skin contact wine! SoHu Orange delivers beautiful and lush aromas of fleshy peach skin, orange blossom and lemon drops, while the palate delivers nice acidity but still bursting with ripe flavors of peach, apricot, and carried off with a a pleasant herbal finish.

THE PRODUCER: Tucked in the northeastern corner of Croatia, in the Croatian Danube region, right below the border of Hungary, lies Slavonija: one of Croatia’s most important winegrowing regions and the home of Croatia’s most important white grape: Graševina (aka Welschriesling). Much of the modern viticultural history in this region reignited in the early 19th century, when Croats from northern Dalmatia began trading in this region and sharing their viticultural knowledge with the region. Much of the planting and focus revolves around the indigenous Graševina grape, very prominently found around many wine regions Central and Eastern Europe under many different names. (e.g. Welschriesling in Austria, Riesling Italico in Italy, Grašac in Serbia, and Olaszrizling in Hungary, etc.).

The SoHu wines were created to offer a fresh and expressive style of Slavonijan indigenous varietal that everyone can enjoy, focusing predominantly on the grape this region is known for: Graševina The name SoHu (South of Hungary) is an ode to the cross-cultural influence this region embraces in Croatia near the border of Hungary.