CROATIA - Croatia and Slovenia - page 71

ducers here include Degrassi (try their Terre Bianche white and red blends), Kabola,
Kozlovi ć , Fakin, and Matoševi ć (all of these can be visited for a tasting—see here ) .
As you move south, along the Dalmatian Coast, the wines turn red—which Croa-
tians call “black wine” ( crno vino, TSUR-noh VEE-noh). The most common grape
here is plavac mali (“little blue”)—a distant relative of Californian zinfandel and
Italian primitivo grapes. Generally speaking, the best coastal reds are produced on
the long Pelješac Peninsula, across from Kor č ula (the most well-respected regions
are Dinga č and Postup; see here ) . But each island also produces its own good wines.
Kor č ula (especially near the villages of Č ara and Smokvica) makes excellent white
wine from pošip grapes (which are high alcohol and low acidity), as well as grk
(“Greek” grapes that grow only around Lumbarda) and kor č ulanka. Hvar's wines
tend to be fruitier and less tannic; they specialize in pošip, as well as bogdanuša
(“from the gods”)—which has low alcohol and high acidity. One good place to try
wines on Hvar is the Tomi ć winery, in the village of Jelsa (see here ) .
Other wines to look for include the heavenly, sweet dessert wine called prošek
(similartoportwineorItalian vin santo ).Whilerosésaren'tabigbusinesshere,some
producers make them to keep up with winemaking trends; you may see them called
Opolo ( pol means “half”).
When looking at wine labels, watch for these three official classifications: stolno
(“table,” the lowest grade), kvalitento (“quality”—actually mid-range), and vrhunsko
(top-quality).Ingeneral,ifonlythegrapeislisted(e.g., mali plavac ),thequalityisn't
as good as when the region is prominently noted (e.g., Dinga č or Postup)—though
there are some exceptions (Miljenko Grgi ć , described next, produces a top-tier red,
withmostlyDinga č grapes,thathemarkets assimply plavac mali ).Youmayalsosee
the words vinogorje (vineyard), položaj (location), and barrique (barrel-aged).
ThebignameinCroatianwinesisMiljenkoGrgi ć .BorninCroatiain1923,Grgi ć
emigrated from communist Yugoslavia to the US and—as “Mike Grgich”—worked
at the Chateau Montelena in Napa Valley. In the famous so-called “Judgment of Par-
is” in 1976, Grgi ć 's 1973 chardonnay beat out several well-respected French wines
in a blind taste test. Considered a turning point in the winemaking world, this event
brought new respect to American winemakers and put Napa on the mapa.
HavingrevolutionizedAmericanwinemaking,Grgi ć turnedhissightsonhisCroa-
tian homeland. He imported know-how (not to mention equipment) from California
to the slopes of the Pelješac Peninsula, where he set about making some of Croa-
tia's first truly well-respected wines. Grgi ć grows his red plavac mali on the Pelješac
Peninsula (at Dinga č and nearby, at Trstanik), and his white pošip wine on Kor č ula