Every Christmas at home we check our old wine supply. In yesterday’s inventory we noticed a bottle of Kiridžija Plavac 2007, somewhere at the bottom of a large crate with Pelješac wines from older harvests. From the bottled red, with a not very successfully designed label, which may have cost around 50 kuna at the time, we didn’t expect much. After wiping dust from it and cooling it slightly, we faced the biggest wine Christmas surprise of 2016.
Kiridžija’s ten year old Plavac was not phenomenal, as the wine wasn’t designed to be as such, nor was it made from phenomenal grapes. But, it was in such perfect condition it could shame most current domestic red wines of younger ages. Kiridžija’s Plavac 2007 has not oxidised at all, has no wrong off-scents characteristic of cheaper red wines from Pelješac, nor has it changed colour into brick brown and it has kept all the wonderful dark fruit characteristic of Plavac, primarily plums and blackberries.
The tannins have dissolved completely, so the wine is now smooth, fruity sweet and unusually elegant for nay category of Pelješac grown Plavac. Kiridžija Plavac 2007 is surely worth 88 to 89 points: it has ripened with the grace of a good Rioja, while the pleasure it offers is evidence of good grapes and a smart winemaker. Vedran Kiridžija has for a long time been one of the best producers of Dingač: some of his Dingač’s, such as the 1996 harvest, have shown Plavac Mali can quite successfully age, but from Dingač we normally have exceptional expectations. From the Plavac, however, we expect relatively short term drinkability. Kiridžija Plavac 2007 went irresistibly well with soup cod, showing southern Dalmatian wines of lower categories can sometimes give thrilling good results. Can you truly believe that something you paid fifty kuna for today in the supermarket will be served to guests on Christmas 2025? We couldn’t, until we opened Kiridžija Plavac 2007 on Christmas Eve.
For the original and more from Plava Kamenica, click here.
http://plavakamenica.hr/2016/12/25/bozicna-carolija-vedrana-kiridzije-kako-se-skromni-plavac-iz-2007-pretvorio-u-naugodnije-blagdansko-iznenadenje/
