Croatia, Morocco, Uruguay

[ranitidine]

The closest major wine store to me is Grand, in Astoria. In order to serve the ethnic panoply of western Queens they have added sections with wines from the three listed countries. I, for one, know nothing about the wines and wine growing regions of these nations. Does anyone have any knowledge or suggestions? I suspect there are real values to be had.

[Stone]

When I was in Croatia a few years back I brought home three bottles of wine and a bottle of olive oil from the Island of Korcula. (Everyone should visit Croatia. It is spectacular.) Perhaps the wine was affected while I carried it around Italy for three weeks, but my sommelier friends all agreed that it kind of sucked. Very thin. The olive oil, on the other hand, was some of the fruitiest I've ever had. And the rakia could put hair on a bowling ball. If anyone knows where I can find rakia in America, I'll buy another bottle for him/her.

[Vivian Mallinson]

The few Tannat (aka Harriague) varietals I have tasted from Uruguay have been very good - deep and spicy - although they appear to require at least a couple of years of bottle age. Can't quite recall the name of the producer I especially liked - Arano (sp?) I think.

[Adam Balic]

Croatian red wines can be good, but many are very old fashioned (i.e. Oxidized, high alcohol, thin etc). Some of the native grape varieties are very interesting (this is where zinfindel originated). Look out for Plavak (or Plavak mali), this can make some interesting red wines. The white wines tend to be on the old Italian model (deviod of all fruit), but you can get lucky. Avoid Riesling, as in Croatia it is mostly Italian riesling, which sucks, not Rhine riesling, which is great.

Had a good Rose in Morocco (forgot the name), but I hadn't had a drink for 10 days and this may have coloured my view. Suck and see, I'm afraid.

As mentioned Tannat is an interesting grape, definately needs age through.

[Beachfan]

I had some cheap good (in context) Uruguayan wine when I was there a few years ago. I remember thinking "Now thats what a $2 bottle should taste like!"

But it wasnt worth schlepping to Argentina, let alone the US. It wasnt as good as basic Argentine wine.

[Robert Nesta Marley]

As mentioned Tannat is an interesting grape, definately needs age through.

i prefer the expression of tannat in wines from madiran (sw france). still inexpensive.

any chateau musar in your store (a lebanese production, but it might be there...)? '94, '95, '90 are all approachable, despite the fact they're nearly 90% cab sauv. watch out for the storage issue, though: two of the last 3 bottles of musar i've purchased have been either cooked or corked. i guess i shouldn't be advocating a purchase of them, then, eh?......