ARCHIVE WINES OF PLANTAŽE & LESENDRO

Category: Education / Wine

When we think of  wine ,we always keep wondering: what is its secret? What is it necessary for a wine to be really unique, archive? And there is only one thing that is certain-it takes time for a wine! It takes time for the generations to discover the secrets of the grapevines and its terroir, its piece of land under its piece of sky, its grapevines and its wine from that land. It takes time within which the generations will convey one other all of its committments and all they have learned , from hand to hand…… all they have learned about sky and sun, grapes, soil and stone, dream and insomnia when the wine comes to life, is kept and consumed.

Besides the wines of different colours, styles,characters and qualities, an archive wine is a special wine, the wine of mysterious and fabulous philosophy.As for the laws and regulations, the archive wine should be five years old, at least, since the picking date and aged for three years, at least in the bottle. The archive wines are defined as those wines, kept over its optimim potential for aging and improving their quality as time passes by. There are not so many wines with such a special magic. Archive wines are produced in ideal harvests only. It is necessary to get from nature all  the grapes need to show their luxury and express their best properties. Besides precisely and professionally performed technological procedure in the production of these wines, it is necessary to provide for these wines a special way of aginf and keeping wine potential which will be marked as the archive wine in future.

Archive wines should be decanted prior to consumption, because of the sediment appearance due to long aging in the bottle. The wine is separated from the sediment, gets into the contact with oxygen which shows wine aromas in the best manner.

Plantaže has an archive wine of which it is particularly proud and today, we introduce it to you. It is the wine Vranac Lesendro, an archive wine of Plantaže, harvest 1979. This wine is made of the grape variety Vranac from microlocality Lješkopolje that used to be the oldest vineyard of Plantaže.

LESENDRO 79, Vranac Plantaže

The colour of an old wine, red patina. Reductive, of low intensity.The ring dipped into the reduction, thick and transparent. The wine is agile with fast and rare legs on the glass rims. The conclusion is that the wine has long stayed in the oak vat, that it has middle alcohol content, for Ćemovsko polje I can tell that it is low for the red wines before the wine is smelled and correctness and uniqueness are determined.

On nose, the wine is clean, enticing, alluring for 40 years old wine. As I smelt this wine for the first time,all my experience filled this glass. I have never smelt more accurate, more dynamic and powerful wine, older than four decades.

The attack of the aromas is middle.Mild, secondary aromas of dried grass, prunes, raisins, dry rosehip, dry cranberry with indiscreet, tertiary aromas of dry caeamels, dry figs, aggressive cedar with the note of noble barnyardiness, integrating in the background with primary aromas of: ripe sour cherry, ripe pomegranate and black pepper.Each following scent reveals something new, nice and discreet. Wine simply lives in a glass a few hours after decanting and I will write my personal perception- the wine grows with oxygen, it does not sink which may be expected for the wine in the 5th decade.It is very hard to evaluate the balance of sugar,alcohol and acids of the wine of this age, because the wine like Lesendro 79 has not been evaluated and for such wines it is hard to make a scale of measurement without personal learning of the characteristics, varieties and serving manners. The scent was lasting very long with objective certainty that it is his benefit and that we will not lose it.

There is a special event, passion, the moment to be remembered on bouquet. Dry with silky discreetion of sweet tannins, intertwined with fresh,sweet and dried aromas of fruit, grass and spices. The balance and perfection wrapped into the ’dress code’ of middle lasting, without lifespan, are dominating.If I mention the alcohol with 12% acids and sugar at such a powerful wine, I will make a vinification paradox. The wine is simply lively, elegant and expressive.For its lifepsan, it is balanced and mysterious. How it survived and preserved itself? That is power, strength and luxury of Vranac from Ćemovsko polje- mild Vranac in the glass!    

Such a wine may not be found in the sales. It may be tasted in the restaurants Jezero at Skadar Lake and in the 13th July in Podgorica as well as in the wine cellar Šipčanik. In compliance with the selected menu, we have a real recommendation of different specialties with Lesendro 79 that such a gift is not in a hurry,but it waits patiently.

Miroslav Radojčin, educational consultant and sommelier 13 Jul-Plantaže