AAI Part 2: Vinarija Hercegovina Produkt Blatina Polusuho 2009, Hercegovina

May I anticipate? Yes, I most certainly may! This time it wasn’t an AAI. I might call it a teeny tiny surprise. But let’s start from the beginning. For the purpose as a cooking supplement I bought this wine in a large German Hypermarché a couple of months ago. Well I guess I am not the world's greatest cook. That is probably why this bottle got lost in a storage cabinet. But I digress! To my astoundingly limited knowledge, this Blatina, an autochthonous varietal from Herzegovina, was produced by a large cooperative producer named Vinarija Hercegovina Produkt in Citluk.

The Blatina’s colour appeared to be rather bight, not too vibrant and very transparent. Perhaps like a slightly aged and lightly bodied Pinot Noir. The nose was pretty one-dimensional! Strawberries and strawberry marmalade took care of business. Later hints of pepper and elder joined in. The taste was pure easy-listening music from the 70es, rather single-tracked and slightly modern-sweet’ish (not like the fiercely threatening label indicated: polusuho, better known as off-dry). I got flavours of slightly sweet strawberries, hints of smoke, some stewed berry fruits and hints of indefinable spices. Even some lively acid was present. Well, in conclusion: This Non-AAI Blatina was a quaffable, downright planed, light bodied, fruitful and simple minded wine which did not offend me in any way ;-). Absolutely alright for drinking and (preferably) cooking!