Krajancic 2009 Korcula Intrada Pošip (Croatia, $27)
A succulent white from the pošip variety grown on the island of Korcula, this is lush and elegant, with bright orange marmalade flavors and a broad richness that brings pine nuts to mind. —Tara Q. Thomas, Wine & Spirits
Imported by Blue Danube Wine Selections, Los Altos Hills, CA
Trapan Estate 2011 Istrian Malvaszija Ponente (Croatia, $20)
Francis Schott at Stage Left in New Brunswick, NJ, pours this with his yellow pike, forbidden black rice and Parmigiano-Reggiano foam.
Imported by Winebow, NY
Bura 2009 Dignac Plavac Mali (Croatia, $65)
“It tastes like Châteauneuf-du-Pape and shaved cloves; I never had anything like it before. It has soft tannins like Châteauneuf, and the spice; it’s great with North African-spiced dishes, lamb tagines…” —Michael Madrigale, Boulud Sud, NYC
Imported by Vinum USA, Madison, NJ
Vino Budimir 2007 Zupa Sub Rosa Prokupac/Cabernet Sauvignon (Serbia, $42)
A blend of the indigenous prokupac (60 percent) with the rest cabernet, this comes off a vineyard planted in 1910. Francis Schott calls it “one of the best wines I’ve had dollar for dollar all year,” and pours it with merguez-stuffed lamb at Stage Left in New Brunswick, NJ.
Imported by Winebow, NY
Stobi Winery 2011 Tikves Zilavka (FYROM, $13)
Stobi owns and farms 610 hectares of vines, all of it hand-harvested. This zilavka comes from Tikves, a broad plain that’s the center of the Republic of Macedonia’s winemaking regions. It has the juiciness of a white peach, with a chalky richness to back it up, great with grilled seabass. —Tara Q. Thomas, Wine & Spirits
Imported by Winebow, NY
Alvaredi Monastery 2010 Kakheti Valley Rkatsiteli (Georgia, $24)
“It’s got a superhero-caliber origin story—over a thousand years of monks making the wines and fighting to preserve their traditions. Very few wines offer such pristine and vivid expressions of its place—grassy meadows, wild herbs, bee hives, mountain flowers, orchards, nut trees—while balancing the resiny textures of terra cotta aging with fresh, citrusy acidity and delicate, grape skin tannins.” — Jeff Berlin, A Côté, Oakland, CA
Imported by Terrell Wines, Brooklyn, NY
Pheasant’s Tears 2010 Kakheti Valley Rkatsiteli (Georgia, $18)
Compared to the Alvaredi, this is “a little more fleshy, riper fruits with a little spice,” says Ceri Smith of Biondivino wine boutique and Et Al restaurant in San Francisco. With their structure and tannins, she likes them heartier food—“anything with nuts, grains (farro/quinoa), strong herbs—tarragon works really well—or flavorful mushrooms. I can see both of these wines holding up to a pine nutty risotto, grilled portobello or Caesar mushrooms, game birds or thin-cut grilled meat.”
Imported by Terrell Wines, Brooklyn, NY
Iago’s Wine 2009 Kartli Chinuri (Georgia, $18)
From Iago Bitarishvili, off his 50-year-old chinuri vines, foot-trod in the hollowed-out tree trunks called satsnaheli and fermented and aged in earthenware qvevri buried underground, this is on the list at Anfora right now, where Joe Campanale likes to pour it with hard cheeses. “It is a white wine that has both tannin and some good acidity so it pretty versatile but you need something that also very flavorful,” he says. “At dell’anima, I love skin-macerated wines with meats like quail and sweetbreads because they match in terms of flavor intensity, some level of funkiness and weight.”
Imported by Terrell Wines, Brooklyn, NY
Fekete Béla 2009 Somló Juhfark (Hungary, $25)
“The ultimate yin and yang wine in that it is at once rich, opulent and elegant but has such prominent veins of volcanic ash and minerality running through it at the same time. Super sexy, both masculine and feminine, like a Caligulan feast in a glass.” —Jeff Berlin, A Côté, Oakland, CA
Imported by Blue Danube Wine Selections, Los Altos Hills, CA
Bott 2011 Tokaji Hatari Hárslevelu (Hungary, $30)
“A native white from Tokaj that is mysterious, giving, and like something from autumn. Old honey, rotting leaves, and overripe melon is the nose, with a dry, dust-chalk finish.” — Amanda Smeltz, Roberta’s, Brooklyn
Imported by Blue Danube Wine Selections, Los Altos Hills, CA
Szepsy 2008 Tokaji Szent Tamás Furmint (Hungary, $110)
Istvan Szepsy produced wine throughout the Communist era both in a cooperative and in his own artisan winery in Tokaj. He went on to launch Királyudvar with Anthony Hwang of Huet in the Loire, where he and winemaker Zoltán Demeter pioneered the concept of a high-quality dry furmint. His own 2008 from the revered Szent Tamás vineyard shows how far this idea has come. It has the noblesse of a grand old Burgundy with a distinctly furmint flavor, smoky and peppery with a limey edge. —Tara Q. Thomas, Wine & Spirits
Imported by Domaine Select Wine Estates, NY
Samuel Tinon 2007 Tokaji Szamarodni Szaras (Hungary, $46/500ml)
Pascaline Lepeltier pours this at Rouge Tomate in NYC is pouring it with her tasting menu—“to go with a porcini farrotto with some Anson Mills farro piccolo, a little bit of parmesan and a white asparagus espuma—you also have a little bit of white and green asparagus, and some roasted porcini.”
Imported by Blue Danube Wine Selections, Los Altos Hills, CA
J and J Winery 2007 Eged-Hegy Kékfrankos (Hungary, $25)
“It drinks like a Rhône syrah in terms of the depth of fruit; but it feels more like Burgundy – it has that sort of texture and acidity. One of the most successful pairings we’ve ever done with it is a 16-hour sous vide belly crisped in skillet. It’s good with duck, too; some people even drink it with fish.” —Santos Uy, somm/owner Papilles and Mignon, Los Angeles
Imported by Blue Danube Wine Selections, Los Altos Hills, CA
Kabaj 2010 Goriška Brda Rebula (Slovenia, $25)
Amanda Smeltz pours this with the “Cheesus Christ” pie at Roberta’s, “with, like, seven types of cheese or something silly.” She finds the tannins of the wine, picked up from its 30 days on the skins, marry well with the fat in the pizza.
Imported by Blue Danube Wine Selections, Los Altos Hills, CA
Movia 2005 Goriška Brda Pinot Nero (Slovenia, $40)
Ales Kristancic grew a massive pinot noir in 2005, packed with ruby grapefruit intensity, seemingly superripe and super acidic at once. It sparks with flavors of licorice, black cherries, peppermint and candied rose, then finishes completely clean. —Joshua Greene, Wine & Spirits
Imported by Domaine Select Wine Estates, NY
Štoka 2009 Cras Teran (Slovenia, $20)
A server at Roberta’s in Brooklyn calls this ‘peanut butter and jelly wine’ for all the iron and rich fruit in it. Sommelier Amanda Smeltz adds that it’s “badass with red sauce.”
Imported by Blue Danube Wine Selections, Los Altos Hills, CA
This is a W&S web exclusive feature.
is W&S’s editor at large and covers the wines of the Mediterranean and Central and Eastern Europe for the magazine.
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