“Why live badly? Pan-fried sardines, boiled potatoes and Brussels sprouts, a little tomato, an oil rated 100 points in Flos Olei and a Zilavka Milas 2016 worth 2016 points…” That is how I described the photograph above, taken in Samobor in mid-September last year, roughly two weeks after returning from a wonderful wine journey through Dalmatia and Herzegovina. It was precisely that Zilavka 2016 from the Milas winery (Zilavka is Herzegovina’s benchmark white) that prompted the trip to Humac near Ljubuski and a visit to the cellar of Zdenko and Tomislav Milas. This is a wine that, a few years ago, finally confirmed to me the greatness of the variety, and I wanted to replenish my stock. I failed. That vintage was no longer for sale. The more recent Zilavkas were, of course, very good, but not yet the equal of the famous ten-year-old. Time does its work…
At the end of August in Humac we enjoyed the youthfulness of the 2024, and then the first hints of maturity offered by the 2021 vintage. I brought home a case of Zilavka 2019 so I could follow how it develops tomorrow, the day after, and on into 2029, when its maturity will match that great one. Even though I hid the bottles from myself, one is already missing. In Humac we also savoured the Blatina 2018 (Blatina is Herzegovina’s signature red), Herzegovinian prsut and cheese and, above all, good company. Here are the memories:
What will the 2024 vintage be like in 2034? We shall taste and see…
Son and father, Tomislav and Zdenko Milas
Well-behaved girls pose beside the bottles…
…while Bacchus’s cheeky son goes rummaging among the bottles
After the barrels, the wines settle and marry in stainless steel
The Blatina 2022 is still in barrel…
…while the Blatina 2018 seduces from the bottle
This is how Zdenko Milas smiles when you praise his wine
Selfie and other photographs: Ivana Pranjic/Cork Croatia
Cover photo: Ivo Kozarcanin
