Tikveš Kratoshija 2022
£9.95
The wine
Bright aromas of redcurrant, cherry and red berries lead to a textured and mouth-filling palate with vibrant, fruit-forward flavours and a deliciously satisfying finish.
Kratoshija is one of the more remarkable grapes in this range. DNA analysis has established it as genetically identical to Primitivo in Puglia and Zinfandel in California, all three descending from the Croatian variety Tribidrag, which was nearly extinct in its homeland when the connection was proved in the early 2000s. Grown in the Balkans for centuries under its own name, it gives a fresher, lighter wine here than the Italian or Californian versions.
The producer
Tikveš
View all Tikveš winesTikveš has been making wine in North Macedonia since 1885 and is the largest producer in south-eastern Europe, farming around 1,000 hectares in the Tikveš valley in the centre of the country.
North Macedonia is one of Europe's last undiscovered wine countries, which is a surprise given the history: vines have grown here since at least the fourth century BC, and the region supplied wine to Yugoslavia in enormous quantity through the twentieth century, mostly in bulk and mostly anonymously. Independence in 1991 and the collapse of that trade forced a rethink, and the shift towards bottling under its own name has been rapid.
The indigenous varieties are the reason to pay attention. Vranec, whose name means black stallion, is the flagship red, deeply coloured and powerfully structured. Kratoshija is genetically identical to Primitivo and Zinfandel. Smederevka and Temjanika are the native whites, the latter a member of the Muscat family. The valley's continental climate and 260 days of sun a year ripen all of them readily.
