“Well, we like our wines strong here.” It was a statement that I was to hear in various forms during a recent trip to the island of Hvar on the coast of Croatia. In this instance it was due to my asking a winemaker why one of their wines made with Plavac Mali (the dominant red variety) came in at a whopping 18.2% alcohol which yes, you definitely could taste as it was the dominating aspect to the wine. I was having this and other conversations due to visiting wineries […]