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The text by Marko Marijanovic, from the magazine Vino.rs, is shown in its entirety:

The anniversary with which the Jović winery from Knjaževac marked a quarter of a century of active participation in the modern wine scene of Serbia, was crowned with a completely new wine by Dionysius Potrkanjski.

Relying on a multi-generational family tradition, today the most famous winery in the Knjaževac region, entered the market in 1995, during which time in a rather visionary way. Bottling exclusively mono-varietal wines, in which the essence was mostly the specialty of the Potrkanj vineyards, was a solid principle and the basis of the recognition of this wine brand.

25 years later, the Jovićs made a slight turn in their previous wine practice, just when the 2017 harvest announced its high potential to everyone. The two most important trump cards, when it comes to the red wines of this winery, Vranac and Cabernet Sauvignon, had more than enough strength that year to break the boundaries of the established and inspire Jovic to make their first premium wine in a completely different way.

The blend of extremely powerful varieties in the ratio of 70:30 in favor of Vranac, develops into an unusual and truly authentic red wine. The two-year “schooling” ended in new French, Serbian and Hungarian oak, only to finally see the light of day last year and move from Potrkanje to the shelves of specialized wine shops, and to the wine lists of restaurants where Jovići were the only serious representatives from Eastern Serbia. .

The wine in the glass is extremely dark, with heavy purple shades on the edge, while the deepest zone of the slightly tilted glass is completely opaque, black. On the nose, quite extroverted, a little air is enough to inhale in order to fill the wider area around the glass with the aromas of black berries. Two very potent varieties cannot suppress their ego embodied in aromatic profiles, so the aromas of cherries, cranberries, chokeberries, prunes are constantly laughing …

Fruity completely dominates the specific aromas of tar or freshly poured asphalt, and the smell of the earth rich in humus. They are inadequately matched by aromas extracted from wooden vessels in which the wine was aged, which in this case I cannot call a flaw because otherwise the present tones of cocoa, freshly ground coffee or dark chocolate would be a burden of wonderful fruitiness.

It tastes brutal, young and shows great potential for further improvement over time. It is quite dry, despite the fact that it has 15% alcohol when supported by high freshness, which comes from powerful acids, but also a strong concentration of taste. Tannins are positioned on the scale of quantity, probably the most of all Serbian wines that I have tasted in the last year. But they are fine, with no aggressive aggression on the gums. They, like the other elements that make up the structure of this wine, firmly reinforce the full body to stretch into one long and persistent finish.

It seems to me that Dionysius Potrkanjski 2017 is still quite young. I would rather recommend it as a collector’s item that should be kept, aged for at least another 4-5 years until it reaches a form that would be completely understandable and transparent for the average consumer. After that, he has 6-7 years of golden improvement over time, patina decorations and emphasis on finesse, which are only hinted at at the present stage.

If, however, the bottle of this wine is opened, it is necessary to decant it for at least 45 minutes and serve at a temperature of up to 18 degrees, in glasses of as large a format and diameter as possible. The hot roast lamb will be delighted by Dionysius of Potrkanj. No less perfect pair is the overcooked beef cheek in wine served on red pepper puree …

Considering that I expect a lot from this wine in the time ahead, I get the impression that the Jović winery is looking to the future, rather than summarizing the rich winemaking past in this wine.

And that’s where I would say that this is a fantastic way to open a new wine chapter of the Jović family.