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.
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.
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.