Winemaker Notes
It pairs well with spicy and strong dishes and grilled meat, including beef, lamb, duck and wild game.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The inky-colored 2013 Vranac Special Selection (100% Vranac, which is the local grape of Macedonia) offers upfront, voluptuous levels of black raspberry, plum, violets and spring flowers. Full-bodied, decadent and a borderline big fruit bomb, it nevertheless has fabulous purity of fruit and good freshness. It’s a smoking value to drink over the coming 2-4 years (although I have no experience with how this grape ages).
Beyond the usual suspects, there are hundreds of red grape varieties grown throughout the world. Some are indigenous specialties capable of producing excellent single varietal wines, while others are better suited for use as blending grapes. Each has its own distinct viticultural characteristics, as well as aroma and flavor profiles, offering much to be discovered by the curious wine lover. In particular, Portugal and Italy are known for having a multitude of unique varieties but they can really be found in any region.
Between Albania and Bulgaria, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) shares its southern border with Greece and Greece's wine appellation of the same name.
Though there are three main wine regions of Macedonia (FYROM), interest is growing also in the mountainous areas along the border. The established areas include Pcinya-Osogovo in the east, Pelagoniya-Polog in the west, and the central region of Povardarie (also called the Vardar River Valley). Povardarie is the most influential, including almost 90% of the country’s vineyard area, most of which are within this region’s Tikveš district.
Macedonia (FYROM) produces full-bodied red wines. Prevalent varieties include Vranec as well as Stanušina and Ohridsko Crno (the only genuinely indigenous varieties identified), Kratošija (aka Zinfandel) and a few international varieties. Žilavka, Župljanka, Temjanika (Muscat Blanc à Petit Grains), Smederevka, Rkatsiteli and Graševina are the sources of the fresh white wines of the area.