By Alexandra Paucescu
On the last day of May, the Croatian embassy in The Hague together with the wine importer Croatiangrapes.com organized a professional wine tasting. On this occasion, wine centipede Barbara Verbeek has been appointed Croatian Wine Ambassador 2023 in the Netherlands by the Croatian ambassador, HE Ms. Dubravka Plejić Marković.
Most of the distinguished attendees where professionals from the wine and media industries. The Ambassador of Rwanda, H.E. Mr. Olivier Jean Patrick Nduhungirehe, the Ambassador of Mexico, H.E. Mr. Jose Antonio Zabalgoitia, the Ambassador of Tanzania, H.E. Ms. Caroline Kitana Chipeta, the Ambassador of Portugal, H.E. Ms. Clara Nunes dos Santos and the Ambassador of Greece, H.E. Ms. Caterina Ghini also took part in the event.
This year it’s the fourth time that the title has been awarded in the Netherlands. The honor previously fell to Sabas Joosten (then head sommelier of De Librije), cheese expert Betty Koster and wine writer Hubrecht Duijker.
It is a recognition that the person who receives the title has contributed in a special way to the promotion of Croatian wine in the Netherlands. According to the nomination committee, chaired this year by the Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia, HE Ms. Dubravka Plejić Marković and wine importers Mario Pranić and Diederik Swart, Barbara Verbeek is the perfect person to bear this honorable title.
Mrs. Verbeek has visited several Croatian wine regions and presented the diversity and the great grape varieties of this ancient wine country. Meanwhile, she has often offered a stage to Croatian wine in her Wine Theater, during national catering fairs.
Barbara Verbeek inherited the love for good wine from her father. In 2001, she graduated as a registered viticulturist and in 2002 as a wine and food specialist from the Academy of Gastronomy. She is the owner of the ‘Wijntheater’, being also a wine columnist for De Telegraaf. She is the initiator of the Wine Woman of the Year Foundation, is the designer of the Expert’s Collection glass line and an ambassador of the Royal Leerdam glass factory.
In her acceptance speech, she said: ‘I am much honored to bear this title. Since 2015, whenever I had to fill the program of the Wine Theater, I have always paid a lot of attention to Croatia, a wine country that hardly anyone had heard of at the time, and neither had I. But with Croatian wines and the people from Croatiangrapes.com it was love at first sight.
My father became a wineologist in the 1980s and when I came into the living room as an eight-year-old child, there was a book by Hubrecht Duijker on the table. I leafed through it and thought it was magical at the time. The fact that I can now take over this ambassadorship from Hubrecht is the circle of life for me and it honors me deeply.’
Mario Pranić and Diederik Swart started Croatiangrapes.com, an import company with a complete focus on Croatian wines, in 2014. The company has since grown into the leading specialist in this field. The wines they promote are from unique local grape varieties, from all the main wineries in the country.
During the event at the Croatian embassy, after the awarding ceremony, a reception followed, where wines from all the important regions of Croatia could be tasted. In addition, suggestions were offered for various cheese combinations, specially chosen by the former Croatian wine ambassador, Betty Koster. The Croatian MasterChef winner, Sascha de Lint, catered the event, offering the distinguished guests special dishes from the Croatian cuisine.
Ivan Novak, director of the Benelux Croatian Tourism Office, was also present and he offered a study trip to one of Croatia’s unique wine regions to the new wine ambassador, Barbara Verbeek.
On behalf of Diplomat Magazine, we wish to congratulate Mrs. Verbeek on her recent appointment!
