TN: And for now something completely different - Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia

[Nathan_Smyth]

I’m very tempted to say that the Colliano Peneca Rebula Sparkling Ribolla Gialla, made by the “Vinska Klet Goriska Brda” cooperative in Slovenia, was my favorite wine of the decade, 2010-2019.

Unfortunately, that label seems to have lost its importer & distribution channel here in the United States.

[Mikael_OB]

Just some comments in passing…

I mildly second the Brkic endorsement. Firstly because I was never entirely sold on his Zilavka (none of them). Secondly because the wine I actually like very much, his Plava Greda Blatina, (which, and on that I agree, is to my knowledge the finest red wine made in BiH) has turned out not be the kind of ager that I expected: it tends to fade appreciably between age 5 and 10.

True, Zumberak is a useful reference point geographically, but the wine-making area is actually called Plesivica.

On the whole, I agree on what you say about Plesivica’s orange wines. Tomac, though, are true masters and the one notable exception. The rest… not so much.

Plesivica’s sparkling wines, on the other hand, tend to be very good, again, with Tomac as the undisputed leading light and no one else really coming THAT close. Jagunic, though, seems to have had a breakthrough with their sparklers. I didn’t taste the freshest disgorgements this year, but back in 2020 they produced a couple of really notable sparklers. The trend is certainly encouraging and I very much hope it continues…

Was wondering when you would chip in

The Greda Blatina is very good, and thanks for share your thoughts on the aging potential. Have not tried any aged ones but have a 2013 home waiting to be popped - hopefully not over the hill yet. Personally I liked the Greda Zilavka I have had (the entry version was less exciting).

You are of course right with Plesivica, yet I am hoping (not sure if wishful thinking only) that the other lesser famed parts of Zumberak one day gets tested to its full potential.

Unfortunately the bottle went along the same path of your experience. Not sure if a corked bottle or if the fruits profile just faded… no fruits at all, but for the rest still good. A bit surprised about noticeable oak, not something I picked up in the past. recall how much I liked the wine after visiting there, and expecting it to make it to 10 years with ease.

[Julian_Marshall]

Thanks Otto for more fun notes on wines I had mostly never heard of!

I must say how impressed I am that you and your friends are able to source such a consistently eclectic range of wines from so many different countries. I have no idea what distribution is like in Finland but I imagine it cannot be easy. It’s fun for us to discover new names albeit vicariously. I look forward to the next instalments in 2022!

[Otto_Forsberg]

Thanks Otto for more fun notes on wines I had mostly never heard of!

I must say how impressed I am that you and your friends are able to source such a consistently eclectic range of wines from so many different countries. I have no idea what distribution is like in Finland but I imagine it cannot be easy. It’s fun for us to discover new names albeit vicariously. I look forward to the next instalments in 2022!

You are indeed very correct in that the distribution is very poor here in Finland - we have a national alcohol monopoly and while for the past few year the wine selection has been improving, most of the stuff we have here is lousy supermarket stuff with lots of no-name brands developed for the Finnish or Nordic markets. A lion’s share of the remaining bottles are boring wines from very large producers. The biggest problem is that the monopoly buyers have a very “international” and “modern” palate and they seem to avoid getting interesting geeky wines in the selection. Add in the highest alcohol tax in the EU and a high VAT and you get a pretty disappointing setting.

So instead of getting anything from Finland, we either buy stuff online or simply bring back wines from abroad - it’s not uncommon for me or my friends to bring back a dozen or two wines from our holidays. One of my friends somehow managed to bring back some 140 wines from Italy on one trip! We’re quite fortunate that most shops still deliver to Finland, so we still have a relatively large selection of wines at hand, and often at quite reasonable prices. However, there are still many shops that don’t deliver to Finlands, as our customs and different governmental offices have been actively trying to protect the monopoly and threatening online retailers from selling to Finland at the risk of retroactive tax consequences.

Anyways, I’ve been blessed to be surrounded with multiple people who share my geeky enthusiasm in wines so we kind of have this positive feedback loop - we’re all constantly sourcing interesting wines and try to have tastings that would be at least as interesting as the last one. And fortunately we have lots of common acquaintances who are happy to attend our tastings whenever they can, thus allowing us indulge in our vinous eccentricities and benefiting in the process.

[Julian_Marshall]

That’s even worse than I imagined - and I thought I was a geek! Well done to all of you!

I’ve never tried Serbian wines but I did use to travel a lot to Montenegro. I can’t say that their wines compared to those of Croatia but they weren’t bad. From what I remember there was only one producer at the time, called Plantaze. Their whites were nothing special but the reds, made from local grape Vranac, were not bad, especially Pro Corde. The quality varied from one bottle to another, but the best were very good and the potential was clear. Anyway, worth trying if any of you venture that way.