Cracking Croatian Wine in Korčula, Dalmatia

Hello, hello, hello! I'm Matthew Horky and I'm Shirin Tan. Together we are Exotic Wine Travel. We've spent the last three years traveling around the world writing and speaking about unique and exciting wines. Our journey has taken us to both lesser-known and established wine regions. In 2016 we came to Croatia for the first time. We fell in love with the country and the wines, prompting us to write the book Cracking Croatian Wine, a visitor-friendly guide. Now we're at it again. We're going to re-tour the country and bring our book to life. We aim to take you deep into the Croatian food and wine scene. So sit back, relax, and join us as we go Cracking Croatian Wine. It's a two and a half hour ferry ride to our next destination. The view of the Mosor Mountains towering over Split is a sight to behold. It's windy on the Adriatic Sea today, but that's not stopping us from heading to the island of Korcula in South Dalmatia. Korcula was originally settled by the Centuries later, the Venetians came. There's even a local legend that Marco Polo was born on the island. Is this true? Nobody really knows, but we're not here to uncover history. We're here for the white grapes Gurk and Poship, two wine grapes with limitless potential. We land on the west side of the island and head east to the small village of Lombarda, home of the grape Gurk. There are less than 20 hectares of this rare grape planted and nearly all of it is here in this village. Today we meet up with Ivan Batistic. Together with his brother Marco, they make the wines at their family estate Zore. They also have the largest plantings of Gurk. Most of the plants are in the new vineyard in the Dafora location of Korcula. Ivan doesn't hesitate when we ask what his favorite variety in the vineyard is. Definitely the Gurk. Gurk for working in the vineyard, for pruning, for doing works around the wines. Gurk is definitely the best. Zore winery also makes two reds, a sparkling wine, a sweet wine, and three whites. We are ecstatic as we prepare to taste these new vintages in their restaurant. One legend says that Gurk is named after the Greeks, whom many believe brought the grape to the island. But Ivan has a different story about the grape's nomenclature. In local, when you say something bitter or tart, you say Gurk. Not Gurk, but Gurk. This wine is Gurk. That's why I think I'm closer to that, because in the past when people were doing Gurk, they were doing long maturations. They didn't have stainless steels, they didn't have controlling fermentation. Now on to the modern stuff. Zore is the only producer that makes a sparkling and a sweet wine from Gurk. We tasted the sparkling when it was released a year ago, and it's still showing great today. The traditional sweet wine named Prošek isn't half bad either. All this tasting has made us hungry. Luckily, Ivan's father is a fisherman. Everything that is served in the restaurant comes from the daily catch. First up is an octopus salad. Next is a Croatian seafood stew. It's all lip-smackingly good, especially the pasta with fresh lobster cooked in its own broth. We're stuffed, but we make it for the sunset at the Zore guest house. With views like this, you can understand why we love Korčula so much. In the morning, we have an appointment with a legendary Croatian producer, Bire Winery. The property is high above Lombarda. Proprietor and winemaker Frano Milena Bire is considered the steward of modern Gurk, and he tells us what makes the grape so special. Now people have new technology, and Gurk is not so bitter. It's very fresh, very fruity, and bitter. It's very, very bitter, and give one complex last note. Gurk have only one female flowers. I need one other variety for pollination, and because we have a small and bigger grape, and this grape have a little more acidity, and bigger have more liquid and more sugar. And this combination, acidity, sugar, is very fresh, fruity, and it's not typical for south part of country. Frano sells out of Gurk quickly every year after bottling. His tasting room is always packed during the summer season. Today, he's nice enough to spend time with us and open two vintages of the Gurk da Fora, a single vineyard barrel fermented surly wine. Are you done? Are you taking a video? Are you taking a picture? The fruit and then you feel the acidity both come together at the same time. It's fantastic. Happy with it? I think it's fantastic, yeah. There's a really like, you know what you get in great Tokay as well, that tension of the acidity. Although there are only two vintages of this wine, we've put it up there among Croatia's greatest wines. It's totally different wine. It's another story. It's a big wine. Later in the morning, we head to Korcula town, a medieval walled city on the eastern tip of the island. We're going sailing, and Demir from Lezic Dimitri Palace is our skipper for the day. With over a thousand islands, drop-dead gorgeous views, and crystal clear water, Croatia is a sailor's paradise. It's going pretty fast. During the high season, it's a playground for the rich with sailboats and yachts aplenty. There are also many restaurants and sites that are only accessible by boat, like this old franciscan monastery on the small island of Badja. Our time on the boat is fairly short, but very refreshing. Now it's time for lunch. Lezic Dimitri Palace is one of the few five-star accommodations in southern Dalmatia. It's built into the old part of Korcula town. It also houses a Michelin guide restaurant. And today, chef Marko Gajski has prepared lunch for us. A dish called Gambero Rosso, which is usually served as small fishes and prawns in their shells with the bones and everything fried with a side of tartar sauce, a little bit of lemon juice, but we are doing something completely different using just the beautiful ingredient Gambero Rosso, which we use every part on the plate. The Gambero Rosso is a killer dish and the next dish is equally exciting. My interpretation of komiska pogaca, which is usually traditionally presented as some kind of pie, some kind of dough filled with tomatoes, salted anchovies, a little bit of parsley or something like that, and I'm doing something completely different, something completely crazy. Wow. Texture, texture, texture. Love it. Next up, some quail. Celery and potato puree. You got also there some toasted pistachio, egg yolk, and quail sauce. And dessert. So this is modern version of Međimurska kivanica, traditional dessert from Slavonia. So we got right here puffy pastry filled with apple terrine, panna cotta with poppy seeds, some caramel and toasted almonds. Korčula is unique place in whole Croatia because it's untouched, still untouched of the massive tourism. Korčula is also very familiar about their vegetable production, olive oil production, winemakers. And if you ask any Korčula guy who has a free day, a day off, what you're going to do, he will say I'm going to little islands and open some sea urchins and to eat. Korčula's other flagship grape has a home in the Čara Valley. It's here the grape poship thrives. It's a white grape that produces wines with tropical fruit flavors and bouncy acidity. Well-made examples can have similar structure to Chardonnay. We're stopping by one of the few remaining cooperative wineries in Croatia, Peze Poship Čara. The winemaker Janko Jovanov has been critical in the handling of the grape and helping small winemakers get started. Mr. Janko isn't here today but his assistant Igor is there to greet us. Poship Čara produces very good wine, especially at the volume that they make. Their flagship yellow label poship can resemble white burgundy from the Cote Chalonnaise or Macanay. Their reserve poship named Marco Polo is also excellent, vintage after vintage. Just south of the Čara Valley is the seaside village of Zavalačica. It's home to Luka Krajičić, who's considered the godfather of modern poship. He was among the first to produce clean, crisp, and modern wines from the grape. While Luka's specialty is poship, he also produces a delicious red and rosé Plavac Mali. He's an artist and paints all of the wine labels. The Krajičić Čara is the flagship wine of the estate, but his greatest wines may be the Statute and Poship Srli. They're excellent and can resemble white burgundy from We ask Luka what makes poship so special. is my life philosophy and I'm not looking for biggest car but I'm looking for a good wine and if I'm asking what I need in my life so this is wine from poship. For the finale, we retaste Opera. It's a sweet wine made from late harvest dried berries. Like all Krajičić wines it's spectacular and pairs perfectly with an egg flan cake that Luka gives us. I eat this and I eat this and both flavors retain inside my mouth. Nothing cancels. It's late when we make it back to Korčula town and our room at Lešiš Dimitra Palace. What do you think about the kitchen? I don't need to think about the kitchen. I don't need to use the kitchen. The apartments are huge and arranged by theme. Somehow we ended up with a china suite. Regardless, it's a perfect room to end the long day in. Good morning Korčula! Morning comes quickly and it's time for breakfast. The spread is varied, fresh and delicious. Very good scrambled eggs. It's not easy to make a good scrambled egg. It's our last day on this wonderful island. There's no time to feel bad for us though. Next, we're heading across the strait to the Pelješac peninsula, the spiritual home of Plavac Mali. If you would like to learn more about Croatia and Croatian wine, check out our book Cracking Croatian Wine on Amazon.