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The Plavac Mali Grape


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About Plavac Mali

(Synonyms: Crijenak, Kasteljanak, Pagadebit Crni, Pagadebit Mali, Plavac Mali Crni, Plavac Veliki, Plavac Mai, Zelenak.)

Background

Map showing Croatia

Plavac Mali is an old red-wine grape originating in the Dalmatian coast region of Croatia, which remains its home today. (Its correct pronunciation is PLAH-vats MAH-lee.)

“Croatia has many indigenous grape varieties that are not very well-known internationally, partly due to their complicated names! Croatians are not afraid of a long row of consonants in one word and have some special characters like č, ž or dž. So you might find yourself totally confused when you wish to order a glass of Pošip or want to buy a bottle of Grk.”
   —Dario Drmač

Plavac Mali wines are big boys, thick, rich, tannic, and clocking in with alcohol levels normally around 13% but capable of reaching as much as 17%. There are two basic styles, which reflect the two growing areas: the Pelješac peninsula and the Dalmatian hinterlands. The peninsula is home to most of the better Plavac Mali bottlings, which are rich and full-bodied, while the hinterlands produce wines—by no means to be snooted—that are lighter and fruitier. The peninsula itself comprises two appellations of note: Dingač and Postup, with some saying that Dingač has a higher rate of quality preoducers.

Factoid: Zinfandel (known in Croatia as Tribidrag) is one of the two parent grapes for Plavac Mali (the other is the little-known Dobričić).

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Some Descriptions of Plavac Mali Wines

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Some Plavac Malis to Try

(About this list.)

Plavac Mali is not (yet) well known to U.S. wine drinkers, and so availability is somewhat cramped. There are quite a few more than we show here, but all available at (per the wine search engines) only one or at most two retail outlets. (Or for more than our $20 cutoff.) To make this list, we had to stretch our limits: most here have no ratings at all on Wine Searcher, though all have at least something on CellarTracker.

(Let us say what should not need saying: when you look up a wine on CellarTracker—any wine, not just these—you really must read the user comments, not just look at the numbers. Often reviewers who leave quite nice descriptions leave weirdly low rating numbers: one must suppose they feel that 85 is a really high grade…)

Bura “Fresh” Plavac
(Do not confuse this with their “Siva” bottling.)

• This wine’s Wine Searcher “Reviews” page.
• This wine’s CellarTracker review pages.
• Retail offers of this wine listed by Wine Searcher.
• Retail offers of this wine listed by 1000 Corks.



Skaramuča Plavac Kvalitetno
(They have numerous Plavac bottlings: this one will say, somewhere on the label, “Kvalietno Vino”—click to see a typical label and look down toward its bottom.)

• This wine’s Wine Searcher “Reviews” page.
• This wine’s CellarTracker review pages.
• Retail offers of this wine listed by Wine Searcher.
• Retail offers of this wine listed by 1000 Corks.



Little Blue Plavac
(Croatia: “Dalmatia Coastal Vineyards”.)

• This wine’s Wine Searcher “Reviews” page.
• This wine’s CellarTracker review pages.
• Retail offers of this wine listed by Wine Searcher.
• Retail offers of this wine listed by 1000 Corks.



Andrović Plavac Mali
(Especially scarce.)

• This wine’s Wine Searcher “Reviews” page.
• This wine’s CellarTracker review pages.
• Retail offers of this wine listed by Wine Searcher.
• Retail offers of this wine listed by 1000 Corks.

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For a Splurge

We could find no reasonably available Plavac Mali wines better enough than those listed above as to justify a “splurge” price.

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This page was last modified on Saturday, 30 October 2021, at 11:26 pm Pacific Time.