Tasting Hungarian & Slovenian Wines with #WineStudio & Old World Vines -> Part II

Last week we continued our tasting of Hungarian & Slovenian Wines with #WineStudio & Old World Wines by transitioning to Slovenia wine. The two wines on the agenda were the Erzetič Winery 2011 Rebula Visnjevik ($22.95) and the Vino Kupljen 2011 Muškat Rumen ($22.95).  Slovenia has a long historical of grape growing based on its proximity to Italy and Austria as well as being the meeting point of the Alps, the Mediterranean and the Pannonian Plain (hat tip to @toledowav). Despite the country's small size, there are over 28,000 individual grape growers in Slovenia, yet they only produce 1/10 the volume of Germany. And of that, only 6-8% of the wine gets exported.

The Primorska wine region is nestled between Italy to the north and Croatia to the south, and receives the cooling affects of the Adriatic to the west. Brda is situated  in the northernmost portion of this region and along its low rocky hills with terraced vineyards is where we find Erzetič Winery. The vines in their estate were first planted in 1725 and Anton Erzetič with his son Aleksij and daughter Teja are 3rd & 4th generation winemakers. Rebula is the leading grape in Brda ( as it is in the neighboring region in Italy and called Ribolla). It's made dry with a white fruit profile and according to #winestudio participants - not lacking in acidity.

Vino Kupljen Jeruzalem is lcacted in the northeastern Slovenia (boarding Croatia, Hungary, & Austria), in Jeruzalemsko-Svetinjske hills of north-eastern Slovenia. The estate can trace its winemaking history back to 1836 and in 1976, Jože Kupljen launched the Vino Kupljen brand. As expected with a Muscat, this is a sweeter wine with that vibrant floral aroma leading to a deep apricot profile. The finish makes this wine, slightly effervescent with a smooth citrusy lemon final. The sugar to acids ratio reminded me of a well made Petit Manseng.

Tonight is the official wrap-up for this session of #winestudio. Make sure you tune in at 9PM ET so that PROTOCOL wine studio can engage our brains and palates! Cheers.

Tasting Hungarian & Slovenian Wines with #WineStudio & Old World Vines

June starts off with another Protocol #WineStudio session, this time featuring Hungarian & Slovenian Wines imported by San Diego based Old World Wines. Katy Bendel Daniels started this venture after traveling through and tasting the wines of Czech Republic, Slovenia, Croatia and Hungary. In addition to selling wine from these countries, Old World Vines educates their customers on their history and culture. The first week of tasting featured two wines from Hungary: Erzsébet Pince 2011 Furmint Király dúló Tokaji and Bock 2011 Kékfrankos Villány, Hungary.

Pince is Hungarian for basement or cellar and is used to name wineries, so Erzsébet Winery was created by Elizabeth and Miklos Pracser in 1989 - during the chaos following the collapse of communism. During communism, Hungarian families were able to tend family plots of vines solely for home wine consumption - a the Pracser family participated in. In 1989 they extended these family holdings and purchased a 300 year old cellar formerly owned by the Russian Wine Trade Company, "to supply the royalties with Vinum Regum, Rex Vinorum, the wine of kings, the king of wines". That refers to Tokaji Aszu the sweet botrytis dessert wines made from the Furmint grape. However, the 2011 Furmint Király dúló Tokaji ($32) is made dry - although it retains a touch of sweetness since some of the grapes in the Király vineyard is prone to botrytis and "fermentation also seems to stop regularly at around 5 grams of residual sugar". I found this one starts with a stone fruit aroma which leads to a wet rock, minerally; full bodied and deep profile. The acids were low with my wine, but others noted higher acidity. The minerality results from the vineyard's soil consisting of rhyolite bedrock & compact clay. A very complex and interesting wine; I think I need another bottle to decipher. 

The Bock family started making wine in the early 1700's in Hungary, but had their lands confiscated after WWII. And worse, people of German descent were evicted from the country in 1956, but Antal Bock was hospitalized at the time, refused to leave, and escaped deportation. He eventually re-purchased a grand cru section of the family's original vineyard in Villany and slowly restored the winery. Jozsef eventually took over the winery operations and received his 1st “Hungarian Winemaker of the Year” honor in 1997 and “Winery of the Year” in 2007. But this is a family affair with Jozsef’s wife, son, daughter, and son-in-law working together. The winery produces a large portfolio, with most of the reds made in the traditional style using large oak casks made from Hungarian Oak. Apparently, the winery also owns a forest of oak trees so have total control over the cooperage. The Bock 2011 Kékfrankos Villány, Hungary ($23) is an easy drinking wine, I mean easy drinking. It's sour cherry aroma is followed by black fruit on palette with some leather and dark chocolate and finishes with low tannins and subtle pepper. Many of us agreed that hamburgers or lamburgers are appropriate. This is a great value wine - as @MsPullThatCork describes: "offers great flavor w/o the heavy tannins or weight of some reds".

Next week we look forward to venturing into Slovenia with the Vino Kupljen 2011 Muškat Rumeni and the Erzetič Winery 2011 Rebula Visnjevik. Cheers.

Discovering Le Marche Italian Wine with ZGR Imports & #WineStudio

Before last month I was completely unfamiliar with the Italian wine region Le Marche (pronounced Les Markay), perhaps because it accounts for only 1.5% of Italian grape production. Located in east-central Italia, the region borders the Adriatic Sea on the east and Umbria to the west. The area has quite a history that you can discover here in addition to a small, but vibrant wine community. There are over 300 wineries using traditional methods that incorporate today's organic practices. The region encompasses all types of terrains and soils so the wine produced in the region is also a general reflection of the entire country. White and Reds are equally split with no strict DOC guidelines on blending, aging, or vineyards. The main regional white is Verdicchio, followed by Pecorino - an early-ripening, thick skinned grape mainly grown in the Marche, Abruzzo, Umbria and Lazio regions of Italy. The grape shares a name with the sheep cheese because farmers found sheep feeding on the vines. For reds, Sangiovese and Montepulciano are supreme and are usually blended together.

Most of the above information I learned through Protocol Wine Studio's  #WineStudio and Jonathan Zeiger, who adopted the region after a a short stint working for Lavanda Blu Agriturismo. During this time he met Giacomo Centanni, a young local winemaker, who asked Zeiger "Would you like to sell my wines in the United States?". The answer to this question resulted in ZGR Imports, where Zeiger is importing Centanni and other local producers, like Rio Maggio, into the United States. During our #WineStudio session, we sampled two wines from both Centanni and Rio Maggio.

We started week 2 with Centanni, an organic winery that also utilizes the very cool Vinolok closure. The winery has been growing grapes for five generations, selling to a local co-op. In 2005, they went commercial and today 28 year old Giacomo carries on the family tradition. Their 2012 Offida Pecorino ($29) like most Pecorino is high in alcohol (14.5%), but has no heat characters. Instead,  there are pears, lemon, and on the nose; creamy pear to citrus flavor; followed by good acidity. A very nice wine.We followed with the 2012 Rosso di Forca - Red Fork - ($17) a 50-50 blend of Montepulciano and Sangiovese. The grapes for this wine were harvested from the Rosso Piceno DOC (pih-chay-no), the first Marche DOC. The wine starts with an herbal aroma, followed by a smooth velvety tart sour cherry and mocha flavor, finishing with very low tannins. Drink now and drink often.

Week 3 focused on Rio Maggio, which was founded in 1976 by Graziano Santucci, who focused on traditional methods of grape growing and wine making. He passed this knowledge to his son Simone, who along with his wife Tizian, planted vineyards in the two most important Marche DOCs: Rosso Piceno and Falerio dei Colli Ascolani. Zeiger highlighted two very nice wines from this small winery, a Pecorino and Montepulciano - Sangiovese blend. The 2012 Colle Monteverde Pecorino ($24) is lower in alcohol than the Centanni at 13.5% with more depth after sitting on its lees for 4 months. The nose is stone fruits - apricots - with a salty mineral and citrus flavor. The wine finishes with light acids. 2010 Rosso Piceno ($24) also comes in at 13.5% alcohol and is a 70-30 blend of Montepulciano & Sangiovese. These vines face northeast so they can soak up the sun for full maturation. The wine was aged in French oak for 8-10 months. The aroma was unbelievably powerful, expressing tart sour cherries like you get in Eastern Europe. The flavor was more dark fruit, plum with some elements of tea, finishing with strong acids and tannins. Nicely done. The only complaint, poor corks.

Unknown three weeks ago, Le March and Pecorino have found a solid home in my wine lexicon. Cheers to that.

Update: the Rio Maggio 2010 Rosso Piceno is still going strong after 3 days open. The aroma is still strong with those tart sour cherries. Very cool.

#WineStudio Presents Germany’s Lesser Known Varieties: Pinot Noir & Lemberger

Moving on to our third #WineStudio Session XII – Germany’s Lesser Known Varieties from the Rudi Wiest Selections Portfolio session. This week Protocol Wine Studio & Rudi Wiest Selections featured two red wines, the Friedrich Becker Family Pinot Noir 2011 ($20) and Schnaitmann 2011 Lemberger ($20).





In Germany, Pinot Noir is known as Spatburgunder and for the past decade one of the top producers - according to Gault & Millau - is the Friedrich Becker Family. As the name implies, this operation is a family affair. Fritz Sr. took over the estate from his father in 1973 and in 2005 Fritz Jr. took over the winemaking responsibilities while his father continues to manage the vineyard. Fritz Jr. is now the 7th generation family winemaker. Almost 70% of their vineyards are located in Alsace, a historical anomaly since the family vineyards have crossed the French-Germany border several times. Since the end of WWII, the Becker’s vineyards are actually straddling these two countries. One of these vineyard sites is Kammerberg (GG), a steep single vineyard near Wissembourg that the family recovered  in 1966. The other site is St. Paul (Grand Cru), which was first cultivated in the 14^th century by the Cistercian Monks of Wissembourg. "German growers with holdings between Schweigen-Rechtenbach and Wissembourg are permitted to market the wines produced from their “French” grapes under the German appellation Sonnenberg." (German Wine)  And 80% of the Becker Family 2011 Pinot Noir are sourced from the limestone rich Schweigener Sonnenberg region. The wine  starts with a dark fruit aroma, then velvety, chewy, cherry flavors on the palette turning to an earthy barnyard; and finishing with very soft tannins. This is a very approachable wine. 

Schnaitmann Winery also produces a well received Pinot Noir, but for this tasting we focused on their 2011 Lemberger.  Rainer Schnaitmann is a relative newcomer to the Germany industry having operated for only 15 years. The vineyard is located in Württemberg where 80% of the grapes planted are red grapes - quite a unique situation in Germany. According to our hosts, "Lemberger is cultivated almost exclusively in Württemberg, where it accounts for more than 14% of the region's vineyard area. Lemberger is a black skinned grape variety. It buds early, ripens late & thrives best in a warm environment to fully mature." In many instances Lemberger wines are very similar to Pinot Noir with more dark fruit flavors and a little more spice on the tail. This completely describes the Schnaitmann 2011 Lemberger. The nose opens with dark fruit and licorice, followed by a creamy blackberry flavor, finishing with a slight spicy character.My favorite characteristic of Lemberger or Blaufränkisch.

Thanks to Protocol Wine Studio and Rudi Wiest Selections for an interesting and enjoyable three weeks of tasting:

#WineStudio Presents Germany’s Lesser Known Varieties: Silvaner and Scheurebe

#WineStudio Presents Germany’s Lesser Known Varieties: Pinot Gris & Pinot Blanc

#WineStudio Presents Germany’s Lesser Known Varieties: Pinot Gris & Pinot Blanc

Moving on to our second #WineStudio Session XII – Germany’s Lesser Known Varieties from the Rudi Wiest Selections Portfolio session. This week Protocol Wine Studio & Rudi Wiest Selections featured two more white wines, the 2012 Rebohlz Estate Pinot Blanc and the 2012 Graf von Schonbom - Schloss Hallburg Estate Pinot Gris.

We started our tasting with the 2012 Rebohlz Estate Pinot Blanc ($20) and honestly it was gone before I blinked. Darn dinner guests. No wonder winemaker Hans-Jörg Rebholz was chosen Winemaker of the Year in 2002 and the estate was awarded Collection of the Year in the Gault-Millau 2013. In fact, the Rebholz name translates to “wood of the vine” and the family has been involved in viticulture since the 16th century, with the current winery belonging to the family for the past 100 years. And according to Protocal Wine Studio, "Rebholz has lately become the prime source for naturally made, terroir-driven, dry wines in Germany". The estate, “South-Pfalz”, contains 70 plus year old vines thriving in limestone soils and farmed bio-dynamically. Pinot Blanc (Weissburgunder in German) is a genetic mutation of Pinot Noir and a late-ripening, thin-skinned, tight-clustered grape.  The 2012 Rebohlz starts with white fruit and stoney minerals on the nose with the earthiness continuing on the palette along with a creamy peach-lemon flavor. There is great acidity in the tail - real refreshing. Quite a nice wine. One other note - winemaker's Hans-Jörg's handwriting is the "font" written into the label.

In our previous post we reviewed the 2011 Graf von Schönborn – Schloss Hallburg Silvaner Dry, Estate ($20) and for this week we turned to the same winery's 2012 Graf von Schonbom - Schloss Hallburg Pinot Gris ($20).  The estate is farmed organically and is mainly gypsum marl, gravely loess, and clay. The Pint Gris exudes a lemony peach aroma followed by minerality and depth on the palette, and another refreshing acidic finish. I used to think Pinot Gris was too bland; not the Schloss Hallburg.

Next up, reds Lemberger and Pinot Noir. Cheers.

#WineStudio Presents Germany’s Lesser Known Varieties: Silvaner and Scheurebe

Every Tuesday I normally tune into Protocol Wine Studio's #WineStudio Twitter chat in order to learn about under appreciated wine regions and wine grapes. For the next few weeks, I'm more enticed about the sessions since I've received a package of wine from Rudi Wiest Selections to accompany they latest topics: #WineStudio Session XII – Germany’s Lesser Known Varieties from the Rudi Wiest Selections Portfolio. For the next few weeks we will learn about the German production of Silvaner, Scheurebe, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir and Lemberger from the forgotten wine regions of Franken, Pfalz, and Württemberg. Pretty cool.

Last night we started with the Silvaner and Scheurebe wines from Franken, a region located in northwest Bavaria and the only wine region in the federal state of Bavaria. It is an old wine region, dating back more than 1,000 years and known for dry white wines - Fränkisch trocken (Franconian dry). Many times Franconian wines can be identified from the short, rounded and flattened bottle called Bocksbeutel.

We started with the 2011 Graf von Schönborn – Schloss Hallburg Silvaner Dry, Estate (Franken) $20. For those unfamiliar with Silvaner, it is the offspring of a spontaneous crossing of Traminer and Österreichisch Weiss (literally Austrian White) and was once the most planted grape variety in Germany. Silvaner is considered a blank canvas for the expression of the specific vineyard. Schloss Hallburg is currently practicing organic farming (should be certified in 2015) where the vineyards consist of gypsum marl, limestone, gravely loess/loam and layers of clay soil. The result is a dry wine with powerful peach aromas leading to a saline green apple flavor, finishing with a lemon and citrus slightly acidity tail. A noticeably less acidic finish than Riesling, but enough to balance the fruit and minerals - in the words of  Protocol Wine Sudio "elegant, but not pretentious".

We moved on to the real suprise of the evening, the 2012 Wirsching Scheurebe Dry, Iphöfer (Franken) $27. Scheurebe (shoy-ray-beh) was bred in 1916 by Prof. Georg Scheu and is a cross of Riesling and an unknown wild grape. (The pairing was previously thought as Riesling & Silvaner, but modern DNA eliminated Silvaner while confirming Riesling.) The result is a Riesling type wine known as  "Riesling’s evil, horny twin.” -- Terry Theise. The Wirsching Estate has an interesting history, now in its 14th generation, the Wirsching family has been making wine since the 1630's. But it wasn't always predestined. In the late 19th century the vineyards were ravaged by the phylloxera plague that devastated the European wine industry. The patriarch at that time was Andreas Wirsching, who passed away at an early age - possibly ending the family's winemaking tradition. But after WWI, his son Hans returned from the war and replanted the entire vineyards by hand using American rootstocks. In the early 1950's Hans obtained Scheurebe cuttings and planted them into their Kronsberg vineyard. Today Wirsching is among the best known & largest wine estates in Franconia. As for the 2012 Scheurebe, the nose is powerful - combination of tropical fruit and lemon - followed by a pineapple flavor. I mean - a big flavor, finishing with refreshing acidity. This is a very cool wine, ready to pair with your favorite Asian or spicy dishes.  

Next Up, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris. Cheers.

Graffigna Centenario Elevation Red Blend Reserve 2012

During the past few weeks I have been learning about Argentinean wine through Protocol Wine Studio's titter chat #winestudio. This week they had planned their Grand Tasting of the wines discussed in previous weeks, and wouldn't you know that that day, I received a prize from Argovino a reviewer of Argentinean wine. Apparently my email was selected from their newsletter subscribers and I was sent the Graffigna Centenario Elevation Red Blend Reserve 2012 ($10). Forget about the price tag for a moment. The Graffigna family immigrated from Italy and settled in San Juan, Argentina - establishing the winery in 1870. This makes them the oldest winery in the Pedernal Valley and the second oldest in all of Argentina. San Juan is located in the steppes of the Andes Mountains - a desert climate - dry, with 310 days of annual sunshine. Wind sweeps off the mountains that help to prevent mildew rot and disease. The Graffigna estates are located anywhere from 700-1,500 meters above sea level on steep slopes that are nourished from an underground water supply. Graffigna Centenario Elevation Red Blend Reserve 2012 is an equal blend of Bonarda (Douce noir/Charbono), Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Syrah, and Tannat. The wine is fruit forward, made to be drunk now, even though there are some subtle tannins to balance the fruit. The flavor is a jammy blackberry plum combo followed by nice acidity. This is a very drinkable wine and for ten bucks - what's not to like. Pair with The Gipsy Kings. Cheers.

Imagine Wine 2007 Winged Paradise Mountain Syrah Release Night

This past Friday night, October 13th, I was fortunate to participate in a special #winechat featuring Imagine Wine and their '07 Winged Paradise Mountain Syrah ($80). While proprietor Ross Rankin hosted a release party at the Santa Ynez tasting room, about a dozen bloggers from across the U.S. joined Twitter and\or Skype to taste and discuss the wine. During the evening we learned more about Rankin, and his wife Lyn Dee; the Paradise Mountain Vineyard and Syrah; as well as Rankin's transparency in describing his winemaking process.

Paradise Mountain Vineyard looking North
- photo courtesy of Imagine Wine

The Rankins started the winery in 2004 and Ross received wine-making experience through stints at several Santa Ynez wineries.  Eventually they purchased the land that would become Paradise Mountain Vineyard (just off Highway 154 in the Rancho San Luis Rey), which is now planted with 7 acres of Viognier and 12 acres of Syrah. And to produce Winged Paradise Mountain Syrah, Rankin utilizes several unorthodox techniques. The grape is harvested with low acidity (high PH) which  would normally be problematic during fermentation because it leads to increased risk of oxidation and bacterial

Syrah grapes looking East
- photo courtesy of Imagine Wine

growth. Yet, Ross is able to ferment this Syrah for almost a month, whereas normal fermentation usually occurs within one to two weeks. Because of the high PH, the wine does not get bitter during this longer fermentation and instead, according to Rankin, "pulls flavor, color, and also macerates the grapes in such a way that it produces an unfiltered wine that is 'heavy' and particle laden". The fermented wine is then aged in a combination of oak treatments and remained in barrel until the recent bottling. This multi-year storage added $12,000 to the production costs and accounts for much of the $80 price tag.

07 Winged Paradise Mountain Syrah
- photo courtesy of Imagine Wine

I opened the 07 Winged Paradise Mountain Syrah about 30 minutes prior the release party, an act I could have conducted even earlier. The Syrah definitely needed time to breathe, and over the course of the night exuded different characteristics in the nose and finish. It started out a fruit forward wine in the nose in the palette with a dark berry (blueberry & blackberry) characters and a hot finish (16% alcohol) with plenty of acid - even with the high PH - and plenty of spices. Over time, chocolate flavors emerged in the nose and palette and the alcohol and acids receded in the tail, although the spicy finish remained. Some of us agreed that the finish resembled a Paso Robles styled Zinfandel, and from a previous #winestudio chat, the finish seemed to me to resemble a Croatian Plavac Mali.  In total, this is a well made wine and in the words of MyVineSpot: "Good concentration of fruit, depth and length. Round around the edges and handles the 15.5% well."

"Winged Series 2" Sculpture
- photo courtesy of Imagine Wine

The label is also worth mentioning as it is based on the “Winged Series 2” sculpture created by Rankin's son Blake in his Santa Barbara Rankin Sculpture studio. Pretty cool; made from marble imported from Carrera Italy.  Cheers to the wine making and sculpting Rankin family. Oh, and thanks for the 2007 Imagine Wine Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon (review coming later).

Learning About Greek #Wine via #winestudio

For the past few weeks, Tina and Guy have been introducing us to Greek wine during their Mondya night #winestudio chats. Their schedule can be found at  Protocol Wine Studio. My knowledge of Greek wine is very basic, almost singularly geared towwards Santorini. Thus during #winestudio, I was able to learn about other growing regions such as the Macedonian region of Northern Greece, the Peloponnese, and other Aegean Islands.  The final night, I was fortunate to be included in a media tasting of three Greek wines:

• 2012 Domaine Skouras Moschofilero [mos ko fee' le ro] Peloponnese $18
• 2011 Domaine Sigalas Assyrtiko-Athiri [a seer' tee ko] [ah thee' ree] Santorini $18
• 2009 Alpha Estate Xinomavro [zee-NO-mav-ro] Hedgehog Vineyard Amyndeon $24

Starting with the Domaine Skouras, the Moschofilero is a white wine grape with a purple skin - making this a vin gris wine. It is grown throughout Greece, but has found a noticeable home in the Peloponnese. It has an inherent spicy character which reminded me of a Rkatsitel, with the floral aroma of a muscat. Although many others thought the aroma seemed very Viognier-ish. The finish was tart and acidic - very refreshing and pleasant.

I've become very fond of Assyrtiko wines from Santorini and one popular style is to blend this grape with Athiri. The latter adds some weight and depth along with more fruit flavors to the mineral-salty rich Assyrtik. The Domaine Sigalasis a fantastic wine; the finish goes on forever. The flavor profile starts with yellow fruit and ends with great acidity and mineral balance. Give me some oysters.

The final wine was the Alpha Estate Xinomavro, harvested from the Amyndeon AOC northeastern Greece. In this region, winters are wet with moderate temperatures; summers, hot and dry.  The result is intense fruit which produce intense wines, and that describes the 2009 Alpha Estate Xinomavro. It was much bigger than I had imagined, full of purple fruit flavor - very plummy - plus a black pepper spice. The finish was acidic and tannic - no wonder Alpha Estate ages this wine one year in the bottle before release. Regardless, the wine benefits from an aerator - maybe even a blender. It screams for rich red meat. Not surprisingly, the following day the wine had mellowed - still plenty of plum flavor, but the tannins had dissipated to leave a smoother - easier to drink wine.

Go out and explore Greek wines. They area affordable, very drinkable, low in alcohol, and becoming more accessible - what more incentive do you need. 

Learning About the Piedmont Region During #winestudio

After covering Croatian wines last month, #winestudio moved into northwest Italy and the Piedmont region (#winestudio is a Twitter series hosted by Bill Eyer of The Cuvee Corner wine blog and Tina & Guy from Protocol Wine Studio). This past Monday we sampled three wines from the Piedmont courtesy of Stefano Poggi, Batasiolo Ambassador in the United States and Beni di Batasiolo. And, boy, did these wines impress. The first was the Barbera d’Alba Sovrana DOC ($20), -  the Sovereign - paying tribute to the 1st royal couple of Italy. And this is a classy wine - not your California in your face Barbara - but gentle, with a silky raspberry core and soft tannins.

We then turned to Nebbiolo (little fog) starting with the  Barbaresco DOCG 100% Nebbiolo ($30). By statute, a Barbaresco must be aged at least one year in oak, and interestingly, this wine was fermented in stainless steel before moving to a year in oak and then another year aging in the bottle. The result is a bigger wine, more earthy, with dark, dark cherry flavor and tannins that creeps up the palette. This is a savory wine and I wanted to savor each drop and not move on to the next. But #winestudio had other ideas.

The final wine was the grandest, a Barolo. I learned that all Barolos are sourced from Nebbiolo grown in the Langhe hills and must be aged three years with two of these three in oak. Barolo Riservas must be aged 5 years before release. The nose on this Barolo started with a spicy mulled wine character then transitioned to black fruit - blackberries and plums - as opposed to the red fruits from the previous two. The mid-palette is firm with meaty tannins that slowly dissipate providing a very drinkable, hearty wine. Thank you #winestudio.

Learning about Plavac Mali & Dingač Croatia during #winestudio

This past month I've been learning all about Croatian wine through the Monday night #winestudio Twitter series courtesy of Bill Eyer of The Cuvee Corner wine blog and Tina & Guy from Protocol Wine Studio. The wines were available for purchase through Protocol as well as Blue Danube Wine. The first three weeks focused on white wines (Sipun Zlahtina 2011 Blanc, Piquentum Malvasia 2011 Blanc, Daruvar Grasevina 2011 Blanc); but this week attention turned to reds and the famous Plavac Mali, from the Dingač area of the Pelješac peninsula.

Dingač is a small area of vineyards interspersed along the steep (45 degree) southern hillsides of Pelješac - itself located in southern Croatia on the Adriatic. The slopes are so steep, that only donkeys were able to transport the grapes over the mountains to the wineries and explains why the donkey label is a proud reminder of the Croatian winemaking tradition. Never mind that winemakers paid for a tunnel to be built though the 400 m mountain pass that now allows trucks transport grapes. The peninsula also provides intense sunlight, 2800 hours annually, which can lead to intense grapes and intense wines - 17.5% alcohol.  In 1961 Dingač became the first protected Croatian  wine area - and only wine sourced from the historic Dingač vineyard can be labelled Dingač. These wineries include Matuško, Vinarija Dingač, Bura-Mokalo, Miloš, Kiridžija, and Bartulović. As you can see, there are three meanings of Dingač, the area, the vineyard, plus a winery.

The Dingač area is shaded in orange

Dingač is also the home to Plavac Mali, which translates to the "Little Blue" grape. The oldest written mentions of Plavac Mali go back to 1821 and you can still find 100 year old vines bearing fruit. Plavac Mali is the offspring of Dobričić and Crljenak Kastelanski and through DNA analysis, researchers from UC Davis have determined that Crljenak Kastelanski is the same grape as California Zinfandel (as well as Italian Primitivo). Consequently, Plavac Mali shares some characteristics of Zinfandel, most commonly, that spicy finish.  The Dingac Plavac 2010 Red ($12.95) we sampled during #winestudio exuded blackberries - in the nose and flavor - followed by the anticipated spicy finish. Featuring the donkey label, this is a dependable everyday wine. 

Next week (5/13), #winestudio examines another historic Croatian red, the Babić grape, through the Bibich R6 Riserva 2009 Rouge. Cheers.