The Scotsman on Sunday on Europe’s Breathtaking Stobi Vranec
Posted on Mon 3rd Aug 2015 at 12:47
We are delighted that the Scotsman on Sunday has recognised, in their words, ‘breathtaking’ variety of wines across Europe, especially because the indigenous Vranec red wine from the Tikveš region of Macedonia has been included twice on their shortlist.
Rounding up a selection of wines from countries including Hungary, the Republic of Georgia and Spain, writer Brian Elliot says of the Macedonian wines “Heading south into seriously unfamiliar wine country, we encounter the Stobi Winery in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Stobi’s 2011 Vranec (£10.95 at Cork & Cask, Marchmont Road, Edinburgh) is inky dark in colour and gives off chocolate aromas. On the tongue, there are complex flavours of brambles, liquorice, mint and mocha. This is an intense wine, with firm but not excessive tannins and limited acidity. Its big brother – the 2011 Stobi Vranec Veritas Reserve – takes the local Vranec red grape and ages the wine in Slavonian oak for 20 months to create a wine that’s very dark in colour and produces straw aromas. It is rich and smooth, with concentrated flavours of coffee, liquorice and mint, with a touch of vanilla from the oak barrels. There is more tannin here, but it is nicely in balance with the wine’s acidity. This is £16.95, also at Cork & Cask”.