Vranec

Vranec is the most important red grape of North Macedonia and Montenegro, and it is grown across the western Balkans. The name derives from the word for black horse — vran — and it is a fair description of a wine that is dark, powerful and not especially gentle.

It produces a deeply coloured red with blackberry, black cherry and damson, firm tannins, good acidity and a savoury, earthy character with notes of dried herbs, liquorice and tobacco. In warmer sites and at full ripeness it can be jammy and high in alcohol; on higher ground and at moderate yields it has real structure and freshness.

The Tikveš region in central North Macedonia is the main growing area, a warm continental basin along the Vardar river that accounts for a large share of the country's production. Montenegro's Podgorica basin is the other centre, where the state producer's vineyard at Ćemovsko polje is among the largest single vineyards in Europe.

It ripens late and needs heat, and it is well adapted to the hot, dry Balkan summer.

The wines were made in enormous volume during the Yugoslav period, largely for the domestic market and for export to the rest of the federation, and quality was a secondary consideration. Since the 1990s a number of private producers have concentrated on lower yields and better oak handling, and the results have improved considerably.

It ages reasonably well, softening over five to ten years, and it remains one of the more distinctive Balkan varieties.