Saturday, November 26, 2016

Croatian

Hello! This beautiful Croatian wine was consumed with pleasure some time back and has inspired wanderlust to discover more in the picturesque country on the Adriatic coast. 

Plavina 2013 Ivica Pilizota, Croatia.
There does not seem to be much information on the interwebs about Plavina other than on wine-searcher, where they described the wine as follows:
"Plavina is a dark-skinned variety grown exclusively in the Croatian region of Primorska Hrvatska. It has thick-skinned grapes that produce full-bodied wines with an abundance of tannins and dark, brambly fruit flavors. It is often confused with the popular Plavac Mali, but bears no relation to it. However, it has been linked to the white Verdeca grape of Puglia."

The Oxford companion to wine by Jancis Robinson had a limited description. 

There are two websites that talk more about Croatian wine, Total-Croatian-wine.com and uncorkingcroatia.com.
At some point, I would love to try this again but for now, new grape to add to the 100 project

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Tapas time!

Hello!

It has been quite a hiatus of writing but the drinking has not taken a break! Plenty to catch up on but here is something interesting that came up recently. We got a few interesting tastings from a friendly manager at Buceo 95, an excellent tapas place in Upper West Side, NYC.


Wine list at Buceo 95
Giving the sommelier/manager a slightly adventurous vibe, we got to try the Listan Negro Ignios Origenes 2014, Mencia Bodega y Vinedos Akilia Chano Villar 2012 and Graciano La Sorda 2010. Very interesting varietals to add to the 100 list! 

The Listan Negro from the Canary Islands is an organic wine and was easily the riskiest one. Fairly light in colour and on the palette, it was acidic to the point where it reminds me of the time I attempted to make red wine vinegar from leftover wine. Bubbly with a rusty after taste, it was oddly enjoyable in the sense that if there was such a thing as sour wine like sour beers, this would be it. The nose reminds me of wet feet like a pinot noir. 

Also from the Canary Islands, Mencia was deep red in color and was light. It was well-balanced and acidic enough that it would go great with whatever tapas we were going to have. The wine leaves a lingering taste/nose of green (not vegetal) but wet mossy kind of thing. 

Back to Rioja, mainland Spain! Again, well balanced with plenty of acidity to go with any tapas. This was a little more tannic than the last, with some herbaceous notes. Overall pretty good. 

In the end we got a bottle of Mencia and it was great! 

More soon!