Articles

Pure Plavac Mali

by  |  01-01-2018

When I wrote about the passing of Zlatan Plenković last year, I made mention that his wines and in reality, a wine of Plavac Mali were largely responsible for moving me into a broader appreciation... more »

In The Glass: Bibich – Bas de Bas 2013

by  |  25-11-2017

When in Split, Croatia in 2015 to do a presentation at Dalmacija Expo, I spent a few rewarding nights bopping around the city–something I’ve rarely done in lieu of mainly hanging out in the now... more »

In The Glass: Krajančić – Intrada 2016

by  |  07-10-2017

The Dalmatian grape, Pošip can most certainly be boring, banal, and limp. If overproduced and fermented in large, not perfectly-controlled volumes it dies a mournful death aromatically. But, like so many grapes, when a simple... more »

In The Glass: Kiridžija – Dingač 2013

by  |  01-08-2017

I have more than a soft spot when it comes to the wines of Vedran Kiridžija. It was exactly a decade ago that I visited him for the first time when researching the Dalmatia book... more »

Talking about Croatia

by  |  15-07-2016

When living in Spain, it's difficult to keep up with writing about Croatia, which was actually one of the first regions in Europe that I wrote about and traveled through extensively for the Dalmatia wine... more »
Zlatan in his winery, courtesy of Zlatan Otok

RIP Zlatan Plenković

by  |  19-03-2016 ~ 1 Comment

Last Thursday, March 17th, while many were celebrating St. Patrick's Day, a legend of Croatian wine, Zlatan Plenković died while on a ferry traveling from Split to the island of Hvar. It's a tragic loss... more »

The rest of 2016

by  |  05-01-2016

Continued from yesterday, a few more observations about what's to come in 2016 in general and outside of Catalonia. Southern France I just received an email from Michel Blanc in Châteauneuf going on at length... more »

The Lasina of Bibich & Sladić

by  |  11-11-2015

Hop around the Balkans for even a short time and you get to make friends with a lot of new grapes. While those in the know have possibly heard of Plavac Mali or that Zinfandel... more »

The wines of Dalmatia, Croatia in 2015

by  |  13-06-2015

The wines of Dalmatia, Croatia are not terribly well-known and until I wrote a book about them in 2007, I didn't fully have a grasp of them either despite first tasting them back in 2004.... more »

The Paradox of wine in Split, Croatia

by  |  18-05-2015

In Spain, many wine bars have sprung up in recent years as many people looked at their glass of 3€ a bottle Rioja that they're drinking in say, Barcelona and asked, "Why am I drinking... more »