Punta Skala by Kraljevski Vinogradi, Plavac Mali, Zadar

This is where you start to see Plavac Mali shine at seven years of age when tasted in October 2024, and a more diminutive abv of 13.5% really gives this wine a sense of freshness and verve. It spends 6-12 months in oak, and the resulting wine is spicy, fruit-driven and fresh—aromatics of fresh red berries, salty ocean breeze and a touch of spice. The palate shows a lively character of savoury spice evocative of chicory root and sasparilla. There's a bright, driven freshness to the red fruits on the palate, blood orange, ripe red brambles and a touch of earth at the finish.