Grape Guide
Plavac Mali
RedPlavac Mali is Croatia's leading quality red grape, a natural cross of Tribidrag (Zinfandel) and Dobričić that thrives on the steep, sun-baked coastal slopes of Dalmatia. It gives deep, tannic, high-alcohol reds of dark cherry, plum and carob character, with Dingač and Postup on the Pelješac peninsula and the island of Hvar as its benchmark sites.
Key Characteristics
- Natural cross of Tribidrag (Zinfandel) and Dobričić, a distinct variety from Zinfandel
- Late budding and late ripening, suited to sunny south-facing coastal slopes
- Small, thick-skinned berries that reach very high sugar levels
- Usually modest acidity with firm, sometimes aggressive tannins
- Marked clonal diversity, with wide variation in ripening time and bunch size
Typical Flavors
Major Regions
Dingač (Pelješac) · Postup (Pelješac) · Hvar (Ivan Dolac, Sveta Nedjelja) · Brač · Vis · Korčula · Central and Southern Dalmatia
Also Known As
Crljenak (Split) · Kasteljanak (Split) · Pagadebit Crni · Pagadebit Mali (Korčula) · Plavac Mali Crni · Plavac Veliki · Plavec Mal (North Macedonia) · Zelenak (Dubrovnik)
Overview
Plavac Mali is the most important red variety of Dalmatia, the Croatian coast between Zadar and Dubrovnik, and the grape behind the country's best-known red wines. Its name means "small blue" in Croatian, a reference to the small, dark berries. The wines are deep in colour, high in alcohol and firmly tannic, with acidity that is usually modest, and they show dark cherry, plum, blackberry, dried fig and carob, with pepper and dried herbs developing in bottle. Quality depends heavily on site. Steep, south-facing coastal terraces with poor soils and low yields give the most concentrated wines, while fertile, higher-yielding ground gives coarser and less balanced fruit. Vineyards higher on the slopes ripen more slowly and produce fresher, more elegant wines. The best examples age well for a decade or more despite their low acidity.
Origins & History
The earliest published reference is from 1841, when Trümmer listed Plavac Mali as a typical Dalmatian grape, but the variety is almost certainly much older: it shows considerable clonal diversity, which takes many generations of vegetative propagation to accumulate. Work by Goran Zdunić and colleagues in Split, drawing on old mother vines from more than 50 locations, found wide variation in ripening time, bunch size and sugar accumulation, and they selected 160 divergent vines for an ex situ collection planted in 2005. For a long time the grape was assumed to be the same as, or an ancestor of, California's Zinfandel. Microsatellite profiling around 2000 showed the two are distinct, and a 2004 parentage analysis by Maletić and colleagues established that Plavac Mali is a natural cross of Tribidrag (the old Dalmatian name for Zinfandel, also known as Crljenak Kaštelanski) and Dobričić, two very old Dalmatian varieties. That makes it a half sibling of Plavina, and either a grandchild or a half sibling relation of Babić, since Babić is a child of Dobričić. Babica, grown only in the Kaštela area, is a progeny of Plavac Mali. The name is descriptive, from plavo (blue) and mali (small). The variety also exists in North Macedonia, where it is called Plavec Mal.
Viticultural Characteristics
Plavac Mali buds late and ripens late, so it needs warm, sunny, well-exposed sites; the steep, south-facing terraces of Pelješac and Hvar suit it best. The berries are small with thick skins and can accumulate very high sugar, which explains the high alcohol levels typical of the wines. Fungal disease is not generally a major problem for it. On the finest sites it is trained as bush vines, a form that keeps the fruit from being scorched by intense sunlight and also helps the plant withstand strong coastal winds. Studies of old vines found large differences between individual plants in fertility, bunch size and must sugar, and more than half of the sampled vines showed bunches that did not colour evenly, so clonal selection is a live issue. Fertile, high-yielding sites produce lower-quality fruit.
Wine Styles & Characteristics
The classic style is a dry, full-bodied red with deep colour, powerful tannins and alcohol commonly between 13% and 17%, made without fortification. Some Dingač and Postup wines are dry, while others retain a little residual sugar, which softens the tannins in certain examples. The Dingač specification calls for at least 12 months of maturation, including 9 months in wood, for the standard wine and at least 24 months, including 18 in wood, for Riserva. Producers use both large casks and small barriques. Entry-level wines from higher-yielding vineyards are lighter and fruitier, and rosé is also made. Overripe or dried grapes are used for the sweet red Prošek. Well-made reds age for a decade or longer, taking on dried fruit, tobacco and spice.