Of all the wine regions in the world, I never thought I would step foot in the Balkans. Heck, I didn’t even realize they had good wines there. What we discovered is that Balkan wines aren’t just good. They’re VERY good. We traveled and tasted our way through Slovenia, Croatia, and Montenegro, and we definitely had our eyes opened. For a more off-the-beaten-wine-path experience, look no further than the Balkans.
Slovenian Wines
Our first experience with Balkan wines was during our stay in Ljubljana. Slovenian wines are plentiful and pretty inexpensive. We found that restaurants carried a deep selection, with just about all available by the glass.
Orange wine was a completely new concept for us. I wrote more about this interesting wine in my Eat + Stay + Play: Ljubljana post, but basically it is a wine made with white grapes in a red wine producing style. There’s much more skin contact, resulting in this beautiful orange color you see.
Croatian Wines (& Wine Tour)
As part of our Croatian sailing trip, we enjoyed a full wine tasting day at two wineries in the Peljesac Peninsula, an area located in the southern Dalmatian region of Croatia.
The first winery we visited was Matuško. Their logo displays a pair of donkeys, and a large concrete donkey greets you as you enter the tasting room. Until 1974, people could only go over the steep hills via donkey.
It is at Matuško that we first tried Plavac Mali, the most common red grape varietal in Dalmatia. If you’re going to Croatia, you don’t want to miss wines made with the full bodied Plavac Mali grape. Many believe that the Zinfandel we know of today has its origins in Plavac Mali. As red wine fans, we loved Matuško’s Dingač wine. Locals actually call it black wine because it is so deeply red. It is known as the king of Croatian red wines.
Another interesting wine was Prosek. It is made from red or white dried grapes and produces a deep gold color. It is quite sweet but enjoyable even if you’re not a fan of sweet wines. Tradition holds that a bottle is produced the year a baby is born in the family and then it is aged until that baby grows up and gets married. Prosek is not protected by EU laws because it was felt that consumers might confuse Prosek with Italy’s Prosecco, an already EU protected wine, even though the two are entirely different in every way. The name is the only thing remotely similar.
Our next stop was at Edivo where we experienced Navis Mysterium, meaning mystery of the sea. Here, Plavac and Dingač wines are aged for two years in complete darkness at the bottom of the Adriatic sea. They are bottled and placed inside amphorae with a double wax seal. In ancient Greek and Roman times, amphorae were used to transport fish, wine, and oil aboard ships.
Edivo even offers diving trips to the sea floor (20 meters or over 65 feet down) where you can see the underwater cellar. The amphorae grow oysters, barnacles, and other sea life on them. We decided to remain on land, however. 😉
Montenegrin Wines
(not much to report here, but a good experience nonetheless)
Montenegro brought a couple of interesting wine experiences, both in the form of rosé. The first was a rosé from Montenegro called Plantaze Crnogorski. We did absolutely no research on Montenegrin wine and practically threw a dart at the board on this selection. But it ended up being perfect as a semi-dry compliment to our seaside views (I ordered fries with it, which I highly recommend any time you’re having wine).
At lunch, we ordered another bottle of rosé and later realized it’s actually a pretty well known Macedonian wine. On a hot day, it did the trick. Very refreshing and helped us continue our rosé all day mood.
Other Balkan Wine Experiences
Just like our trips to Italy, France, Spain and Chile, our trip to the Balkans was full of wine opportunities. Here’s a look at some of the other times we sipped and savored our surroundings…
Have you ever had a Balkan wine before? What’s your favorite wine region in the world? We were so pleasantly surprised by our experience in this region – now off to Total Wine to see if I can find these wines here!
Shop the Post:
xo – Erin
When you shop through my links, I earn a very small commission. This helps me to continue to bring you the fun content you love and makes Cathedrals & Cafes possible.
Balkan Wines: Our Off the Beaten Wine Path Experience appeared first on CathedralsandCafes.com. If you see this content published anywhere else, please email cathedralsandcafes@gmail.com.
You might also like:
