Czar Lazar Serbian Red Wine
December 12, 2018

Wine Diary: Czar Lazar Semi-Dry Non-Vintage

When I started this website, one of the first wines I wrote about was Czar Lazar Semi-Dry. When I decided to re-brand, putting more emphasis on my own photography instead of relying on stock photos, I took down everything and started all over.The thing is, I really liked some of the old posts, I just didn’t have good images to pair with the blog, so I went back to Cardinal Wine and Spirits to buy another bottle of this, making sure I shot better photos this time around.

I’m not going to lie, Czar Lazar sounds like some forgotten Captain America villain that would only find screen time long after the franchise jumped the shark. I wanted to understand his significance, so I looked him up, here’s a brief note for my historically minded readers: Lazar Hrebeljanović was a 14thcentury Serbian ruler who maintained a strong and prosperous state,he died in the battle of Kosovo on June 15th1389 while fighting the invading Ottoman army. He is an important cultural figure to Serbia and a saint in the Orthodox Christian Church, and he also has a wine named after him.

This was my second Serbian wine I’ve tried, the other was from the same producer and they were both off dry. A lot of the Eastern European wines I’ve encountered are a little sweet, which I think one of the reasons so many people disregard them. I’m guilty of it too, I caught myself hesitating to buy this because I didn’t want something that was too sweet. Look, the only reason an off dry or semi-dry wine would ever be “too sweet” was if it was unbalanced, and there’s a risk of that with every wine you buy. When I realized what I was doing, I made myself buy a bottle to take home, I’m glad I did.

The wine had a gorgeous deep garnet color. There was a lot of black fruit in the nose, with some earthy, vegetal, aromas hiding underneath. The body was just a touch heavier than medium, subtle tannin, off dry with a well balanced acidity, dominating black cherry flavors, and a touch of wet leaves. It was everything I ever want out of California Pinot Noir, but can never find.

Don’t let my last statement mislead you, this isn’t Pinot Noir. According to producer’s website, Czar Lazar is made from a blend of Prokupac, Vranac, Merlot, and Games. The first two are pretty common Eastern European varietals, and Merlot is a rock star grape everyone should be familiar with, but what is Games? My first thought was that it was a regional spelling of Gamay, but Jancis Robinson’s book on wine grapes leads me to believe it’s Blaufränkisch.

The other interesting thing about this wine is that it appears to be non-vintage. There’s no harvest year listed anywhere on the label. So, beyond being a blend of grapes, it could also be a blend of vintages. There’s not a lot of information on the website, if anyone knows the details, fill me in.

Lastly, and one of my favorite things about wines from Eastern Europe, this cost only me $5.99. The website lists this as a table wine, something for a weeknight meal, not a special occasion and that’s exactly how I’d look at it. If you need a weeknight red, this is great choice,because it has more complexity than the average bottle or box in the same price range.

But that’s my opinion, if you’ve had the chance to try it, let me know what you think.

Wine Diary
Red wine bottle glass Prokupac Serbian wine Janko Podrum
October 19, 2018

Wine Diary: Janko Podrum Bas Prokupac 2015

I knew what was about to happen, Butcher Pete was going to come over and we were going to sit up until four in the morning talking about ridiculous things. It’s important to have friends like that. Generally, I join him in cracking cans of Old Style or PBR, but I’m a wine guy, dammit, and drinking the same thing over and over wasn’t furthering my understanding of that thing I love, so I decided to pick up a nice bottle of Serbian wine to drink.

Red wine bottle label Prokupac Serbian wine Janko Podrum

Gene’s Sausage Shop in Lincoln Square carries a pretty diverse selection of labels, far beyond that of some self-proclaimed wine shops I’ve visited. They have a dedicated section for Eastern European wine, which I appreciate, and they rotate their stock often, so it’s always worth going in to see what’s new. Beyond Gene’s, Lincoln Square has about five shops that carry curated wine lists, and more Eastern European wine than anywhere I’ve been in the city, it’s a good neighborhood for the wine explorer.

Red wine bottle glass cork Prokupac Serbian wine Janko Podrum

After looking through everything, I decided to pick up a bottle of Prokupac, an old Balkan grape I’ve had limited experience with in the past and wanted to learn more about. Gene’s had one label from Janko Podrum, from Smederevo on the Danube River in Serbia. The producer began work in 2006 and is part of what they are calling a, “Renaissance wave of Serbian wine production.” Indeed, there is some very nice wine coming out of Serbia these days and this was no exception.

The wine itself was fruity, with cranberry and raspberry flavors, dry, with had a nice cleansing acidity. It’s always difficult to know what to expect when you’re drinking something you’re unfamiliar with, and my one previous encounter with Prokupac wasn’t enough to give me a solid foundation to build assumptions on. Next time, I think I’ll have expectations and we’ll see how that goes.

I’ve certainly had wines that were more complex, but something like that can be distracting when you’re in the company of friends. As it was, I found it the perfect pairing for an evening of ridiculous conversation.

Wine Diary