Žilavka

Žilavka is Bosnia and Herzegovina's most celebrated white grape, native to the sun-baked karst around Mostar in Herzegovina, where the vines cling to thin, stony soil over pale limestone. It is prized for making dry, full-bodied whites of golden straw colour, firm acidity and a distinctive high alcohol, with aromas of ripe apple, quince and dried fig, wildflowers and field herbs, and an almondy, faintly bitter finish drawn from the rocky ground. Usually fermented dry and unoaked to keep its brisk mountain freshness, it is the signature wine of Mostar and the surrounding villages of Blagaj, Čitluk and Međugorje, poured everywhere from cellar taverns to festive tables across the western Balkans. From its stony vineyards to the glass, it is Herzegovina in liquid form.