Plavac Mali
Croatia · Red · Available (A)
The most famous Croatian red, indigenous to central and southern Dalmatia, with the best wines from Pelješac, the south side of Hvar and parts of Brač and Vis. Unusually, the wine often carries a place name rather than the variety name — sold as Dingač or Postup, after parts of the Pelješac peninsula. High in alcohol and tannin, with dried fig, carob, black cherry and Mediterranean scrub. The steep coastal sites are brutal to farm and the wines can be enormous; the best have real precision. Its parents are Crljenak Kaštelanski (Tribidrag) and Dobričić, native to the island of Šolta.