Horizons and Vertikales of the Vislander Wine

That the four seasons can be recognised in the Plavac wines of the Vis winery Vislander, made from four vineyard sites, was demonstrated through a comparative tasting of the 2021 and 2019 vintages. From the sandy site of Ljubišće, the 2021 vintage produced a spring-like Plavac with a fruity aroma dominated by the varietal plum note and a pleasing mineral freshness. On Voščice, where sand is mixed with red soil and yields are slightly higher, the 2021 Plavac is lighter in body but shows more herbal notes. It is more suited to leisurely summer evening sipping alongside fresher prosciutto and young cheese with capers and samphire. These two wines were aged for between 12 and 15 months in 500-litre barrels.

The Milna site offered, in 2021, an autumnal wine—more layered, fuller and stronger. There the soil contains more coarse particles such as stones, gravel and gravelly dust, covered with clay-loam deposits. Grapes from the Tihobraće vineyard, where the karst is covered with 30 to 40 metres of sand, yielded a more intense Plavac with pronounced yet fine tannins. The Plavacs from these two sites were aged in 225-litre barrels and will be released in two years’ time. The year 2021 was extremely dry on Vis, so the alcohol levels range from 15 to 15.5 per cent. Wines currently on sale come from the fresher and wetter 2019 vintage, which range between 13 and 14.5 per cent. They are, naturally, less robust and easier to drink. It should be noted that the 2021 Plavacs will certainly soften before they reach the market.

Marko Vojnović, co-owner of the Vislander winery, said that his ancestors on Vis began working with wine as early as the 19th century. The current generation entered the business around 15 years ago in the old Vis cellars, and the end of the beginning, as he put it, came in 2018. That was when they completed the modern winery, which enabled the serious use of wooden barrels and techniques previously unavailable to them. The difference was clearly shown in the second part of the presentation, where he also offered a vertical of seven Plavacs from the 2020 to the 2012 vintages. These wines could not, of course, be compared in detail like those in the horizontal tasting, but it was evident that they travel beautifully through time and that each has its own personality.

The Plavac from Milna 2020 has a lovely scent of the sea. On the palate, the 15.5 per cent alcohol dominates, though it has fine acidity for the variety. It will need some time in the bottle for these two parameters to fully harmonise. Ljubišće 2018, with a gentle 13.5 per cent alcohol, is a good wine from a relatively poorer vintage. Milna 2017 and Tihobraće 2016 were primarily matured in stainless steel in the cellar, then transferred in 2018 to the new winery for ageing in wooden barrels. Tihobraće surprised with its freshness and very dark colour, which Plavac wines usually lose with age.

The three oldest Plavacs were also a pleasant surprise. The 2015, a combination of grapes from Milna and Tihobraće, has a beautiful aroma—initially floral, then fruity—and an exceptionally long finish. In the Milna 2013, a gentle hint of brett can be detected. So gentle, in fact, that open-minded wine lovers will not mind it, just as in the finest aged Bordeaux reds. Today, the Milna 2012, despite its 13 years, remains a fine winter wine, well suited to the region from which it comes and to evening gatherings in a warmed cellar with song and mature prosciutto.

Photos: Marko Čolić