Žilavka is a

white wine White wine is a wine that is Fermentation in winemaking, fermented without undergoing the process of Maceration (wine), maceration, which involves prolonged contact between the juice with the grape skins, seeds, and pulp. The wine color, colou ...

grape variety This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, Zante currant, currant, sultana (grape), sultana). For a complete list of all grape species, including those unimp ...

planted primarily in the

Mostar Mostar () is a city and the administrative centre of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is situated on the Neretva Riv ...

region of

Herzegovina Herzegovina ( or ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Hercegovina, separator=" / ", Херцеговина, ) is the southern and smaller of two main geographical Regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Bosnia (reg ...

, the southern area of

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. As a

varietal A varietal wine is a wine made primarily from a single named grape variety, and which typically displays the name of that variety on the wine label.The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2000.winepros.com.au. ...

wine, Žilavka is known for its bright freshness and acidity. Ideal for general meal pairings, it is often oak aged as a "barrique" vintage that present more full bodied and earthy wines with nutty aspects that were more prevalent in the wines produced in the early 2000s and before. Widely planted throughout the

former Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

, Žilavka used to only be a minor blending grape that was used throughout the former country. These days, the wine has come into its own and is bottled as a single varietal alongside the other main grape of Herzegovina wine production,

Blatina Blatina (Cyrillic: Блатина) is red wine grape variety primarily grown in the Herzegovina region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has a functional female flower (auto-sterile), and for that reason it is always cultivated in plantations with o ...

. Production is generally focused in the area south of

around the villages of Čitluk,

Međugorje Medjugorje (, ) is a village in the municipality of Čitluk in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since 1981, it has become a popular site of Catholic pilgrimage due to Our ...

Ljubuški Ljubuški is a city in the West Herzegovina Canton, a federal unit of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Kravica (waterfall), Kravica cascades lie within the city, near the settlement of Studenci, ...

, and

Čapljina Čapljina ( cyrl, Чапљина, ) is a city located in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located on the border with Croatia a mere from the Adriatic Sea. The rive ...

with notable producers such as Nuić, Škegro, Brkić, Vinarija Čitluk, Zadro and Vitai/Gangaš.

Synonyms

Žilavka is also known under the synonyms Mostarska, Mostarska Žilavka, Zhelavka Biella, Žilava Hercegovačka, Zilavka, Žilavka Bijela, and Žilavka Mostarska.

References

White wine grape varieties Bosnia and Herzegovina cuisine Grape varieties of Bosnia and Herzegovina Wines of Bosnia and Herzegovina {{wine-grape-stub