I had my first Croatian wine just a few years ago and while my experiences are still quite limited, I loved every single one from the country so far – including this plavac mali. Thanks, Matthew Horkey for introducing Croatia to me!

Beautiful, savoury nose, so traditional Old World – it’s quite like an Italian red, with that leathery, Mediterranean character. But not like primitivo for sure… there is a vintage strawberry jam element here, too, evoking grenache from the Rhone. Despite the ripeness, the alcohol is moderate which makes it quite appealing and it also works well with the low acidity and the chewy, very firm tannins – think barolo! A bit of length and complexity are missing for a bigger score, but I love this wine. Very good, 89 points. €15, stockist is 8wines.com.