 Hello, hello, welcome back to Exotic Wine Travel. I am your host, Matthew Horkey. So it's our rainy morning here in Zagreb. I'm gonna try to get this done before it starts pouring down. We just got back from the third Blash Festival in Bosnia, Herzegovina. It's a festival in that country that highlights Blatina and Jalavka. It's our third time in Herzegovina and I thought I might highlight some of the wines, some of the types of grapes that you'll find there. Before we get started, you have to know that, you know, Bosnia, Herzegovina has a long history of wine production. They were producing wines there for thousands of years. The Illyrians actually were probably the first to cultivate the grape. The region is just across the Adriatic from Italy about the same latitude as Rome. So it's true Mediterranean climate, tons of sun. Gonna find interesting grapes. Of course they have Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot, you're gonna find all Chardonnay everywhere. But why go for those grapes when you can have some of these very, very unique grapes? And I'm gonna highlight some of those today. So one of the grapes that I really enjoy from the region is Blatina. Blatina makes really light to medium-bodied wines, juicy flavors, high acidity, low in alcohol, which is really surprising for that hot of a climate. And you know, they make it in kind of a fresher style, like the Sarscavina Blatina, which I enjoy very much. We also have some in Barriques, like this Chitlouk, this Chitlouk Blatina Barrique. I personally like the more fresher style, maybe aged in large oak casks. I just, for my palate, I think the wine should be juicier, a little bit fresher, although there are some lovely examples aged in oak. Blatina's a unique grape. It doesn't pollinate by itself. Most Vitis-Venifero wine grapes, they pollinate by themselves. Blatina needs another plant in the vineyard to help pollinate the flower. And that's where Tarnac comes in the next grape. Got a couple of examples here from, first from Schegro, the Kersh-Servit Tarnac and the Newich Tarnac. This is more of a premium wine. Both different examples. You're gonna find Tarnac that are fresh, without oak, like the Schegro, or some serious ones that are aged in 225 liter oak, like the Newich. Tarnac was kind of a forgotten variety in Herzegovina, but now producers are really taking it on. It's making really serious, plummy, structured, high fruit, high alcohol, wines really reminiscent of Merlot, still have the soft tannins. Like I thought this Newich Tarnac is fantastic. It's a grape to look out for. Another grape that you'll find, excuse me, is Vranac. Now Vranac you're gonna find mostly in, you're gonna find in both parts of Herzegovina, you're gonna find in Serbia, Montenegro, that's where it's native to, and of course Macedonia, where most of the Vranac vines are planted. In Herzegovina, the real interesting wines, mostly you're gonna see them Eastern Herzegovina, but they do have them in Western as well. Vranac is a grape that when vinified, it's got a lot of extracts, a lot of texture. It's gonna have high acidity, and the tannins are grippy, but the acidity just kind of washes them off. You're gonna get a lot of Zinfandel-like flavors. That's what people compare it to. Like I said, Tarnac's more Merlot. Blatna, I compare kind of San Giovesi, Gamay, Blau Frankishi. We have a couple of examples, like this Andrea Selexia from 2013, one of the reserve wines, Sirius, and then this new line of Tuta from Chitlouk, the Vranac, really juicy, nice kind of wines that can go with meats, all the beautiful meats that you're gonna find in the country. The white grape that's native to the area is called Gelavka. Now Gelavka's high alcohol, it's fairly neutral. It has a lot of pine mediterranean brush notes. Reminds me of kind of like vermentino you're gonna find in Sardinia. For me, the master is Burkitsch. He makes fresh style. He makes orange wines. He makes wines aged in Barric. And I think that Gelavka really takes well to orange wine. Besides Burkitsch, I really like this example from Schkegro, the Kirsch Orange. It was, they've only done it for a few vintages, lots of texture, low level of tannins. So those are the kind of grapes that you should be looking for if you're visiting the country. Beautiful, you're only about 20, 30 kilometers from the Adriatic Sea, from the Dalmatian coast. I'm gonna put an article of some of our favorite wines that we tasted at the recent Blanche Festival in the description box. Take a look at these grapes if you're in the region, if you're in Maastar, if you're in Sarajevo, go out and explore. So guys, if you like this video, remember to follow Xetik Wine Travel on Facebook or subscribe to our YouTube channel, Xetik Wine Travel. I will see you in the next episode.