For decades the only young wine available each year in Croatia was the Portugieser, primarily the one from Plešivica. It was bottled sporadically in certain Slavonian and Danube Region wineries, but gave it up quick.
From the 2015 harvest, the Šibenik Vinoplod winery made form Merlot, Vranac and Plavka a wine called Mlado (young), but did not do so again this year. But Feravino continued producing Mlado, made again as in 2015, from Frankovka. This year’s Mlado brought in some quite good reviews.
“It has a lovely, vibrant, purple ruby red colour. The scent is intense, elegant and fine. At first come the raspberry and sour cherry, later comes a note of strawberry, then some spices and chocolate. The wine is dry, partly warm and soft, adorned by a good freshness, fine and tiny tannins so it is very drinkable,” wrote on Mlado our famous sommelier Emil Perdec, while I recommended it with usual autumn meals with sausages or dried meats and sour cabbage. It will go well with the New Year’s Eve pork, while a bottle in Vrutak is 25 kuna.
Similar is the Srijemski Mladac. The wine is made by Ilok Cellars from Frankovka and Portugieser and sold in their wine store chain across Croatia. It has relatively low alcohols, 12.2 percent, pronounced acids and a litre is 20 kuna.
Similar in price is also the best current Portugieser. A litre bottle in Vrutak is 22 kuna. Croatian young red wines are often, but wrongly, compared to the most popular global young wine named Beaujolais Nouveau. It is made from the Gamay variety via the carbon maceration technology. Complete grapes are placed in tanks along with carbon dioxide so they break and the juice ferments without contact with pure oxygen which keeps it fresh. Our young wines are made in the classic way – pressed and fermented. Grapes are picked earlier and they are ready for enjoyment sooner. But they should be consumed before springtime.
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