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Over a summer, two travelers drink their way through the wines of Mediterranean Europe          PZ Podšpilje is one of those anomalies from the former Communist period in Former Yugoslavia. Despite being a central collective for the grapes in this area of Vis since 1924, it was never actually a state-owned collective like others that we've visited. Even though is was free from Communist oversight, it still maintains the rather heavy Socialist look to the building that makes it none too welcoming, although the people who work there are very friendly and were happy to see us. This is not surprising given the almost complete isolation that Vis lived under for decades.     Showing us around and giving an introduction to the wines was Roki Srećko, the general manager. He also happened to be the enolog, which gave him a bit more character than the standard managers that we have often talked to. While they produce 300,000 liters a year from the 60 hectares that they source from, he only has about six people to manage all of this. We quickly got down to the business of wine and tasted their offerings.     First was the 2005 Plavac. It's quite a light wine and has slight berry aromas to the nose. The body is rather dry and typical of a standard Plavac that way, but even still the wine carries a great deal of freshness to it that is pleasing. Form there, we moved to the 2006 Plavac, which was less dry and had more fruit. The body was a bit more meaty and had a smoother finish. These two growing years were rather similar, so a good deal of these differences were probably from one wine being younger and the 2006 will probably shift more to the 2005 characteristics with time.     We also tried their 2005 white called, Vugava. The nose is best described as wooden. Despite this, the body is light and easy to drink. As the wine gets more air in it, a soft, fuzzy fruit develops in to the nose that then grows in the body as well. All of this cleans up with a nice clean finish.     Their strongest wines were definitely the Plavacs and given that about 80% of their production is based in that, we think they're on track to produce some good wines that more people will know about in time.

Over a summer, two travelers drink their way through the wines of Mediterranean Europe          Only 8 miles to the Southwest of Hvar, lies another island with an even longer wine-making tradition than the former: Vis. The furthest inhabited island from the coast, Vis was founded in the year 4 BC and for nearly all that time, it had been producing wine. Already in the year 28 AD some Greek poet praised the wine from Vis (which at the time was known as Issa) for being far better than that of the other islands.     Nowadays, Vis' wines lag behind those of neighboring Hvar due to their less advanced technology and lack of economic development on the island. During World War II, Vis, because of its strategic importance, at one point became the main hideout for Josip Broz Tito and the partisans (the Yugoslav resistance movement) and after the war the Yugoslav Army continued to use it as one of its main naval bases. For that reason, until 1989 Vis was closed to all visitors and tourists, and all its economy revolved around keeping up the military. During that time many of its inhabitants left the island, and the wine making industry dramatically dropped (on a side note, quite a few fishermen from Vis island ended up in Southern California).     After almost 50 years of isolation, now Vis' economy has finally started to recover and tourism is slowly developing on the island. At the same time, new wineries have started on the island, based on family tradition, and old ones have been bolstered and renovated. Moreover, they have printed Vis Wine Route (Vinski Puti in Croatian) brochures and have put up road signs indicating where each winery is.     While Vis' main points of interest for visitors are its two coastal towns, Vis and Komiža, the development of the Wine Route gives the opportunity to discover the quiet villages in the interior and to learn more about the centuries old wine making tradition in the island. And although its wineries need some further investments and technical development, they are definitely interesting to visit.          By the way, if you are interested in other wine routes, check out the one in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Over a summer, two travelers drink their way through the wines of Mediterranean Europe          As is usually the case in a small place, everyone seems to know everyone and this was perfectly illustrated when we were tasting at Svirče and they realized we hadn't met with Ivo Carić, another local wine maker on Hvar. Despite the fact he is technically the competition, they called him up and told him to stop by with some of his wines to for us to taste. Just a bit later, in the door walks this large man, dwarfing the bottles he carried (no, that's not a split he's holding up in the photo, it's a full 750ml) who, like most wine makers was delightful to talk to.     Ivo started making wine as a full enterprise in 1993. Like most who started in the nineties, he was born of a long family tradition of wine making that stretches back five or six generations. He is something of a small producer making 50,000 liters a year. The grapes that go in to the production come from four hectares of his own and grapes he purchases from his neighbors. He makes two different Plavac wines (or Plovac in the Hvarski dialect) as well as a Rosé, Bogdanuša, a white blend called Cesarica, and then 'stolno' level red that he sells in bulk.     Ivo's 2004 Plovac Ploški is a wine that starts out rather light in the nose, but opens up very quickly. The body is buttery and very well tempered with good, round qualities that carry in to the finish and even give a touch of cherry in there which is fun. In contrast, the 2004 Plovac Ploški Barrique takes all of these flavors and puts a nice, spicy oak in to the nose. The body is even smoother than the non-barrique and the wine is incredibly well-balanced. It makes for some really good drinking and is one of the smoothest finishes to a Plavac Mali that we've found.     While just a quick taste and conversation, it was great to see what one simple phone call could do!

Over a summer, two travelers drink their way through the wines of Mediterranean Europe          We visited two wine makers in the town of Jelsa on Hvar: Tomić and Duboković. While there are some similarities in the end result that you taste, the wine makers couldn't be more different. The difference really comes down to personal style.     Tomić is a bit, well, blustery. The picture at the top of this article is one of the main ones that adorns the wall in his tasting room in Jelsa and is a theme echoed throughout his wines. For instance there is a side profile of his face on his bottles. He calls his tasting room a "wine studio" for some reason. In person he has a demeanor that is hard to crack, although friends of his that we met, say that is just a first impression, so we'll give him the benefit of a doubt on that.     But, egoism aside, how do his wines stack up? Well, they're good. They weren't our favorite on the island mainly due to how light the body is. For instance, the nose on the 2006 Pošip is very pleasant with a hint of summer melon and apricot to it, but the body doesn't follow through as strongly and is much more citric. His Plavac 2006 has a very soft nose, which is very light and while it is pleasing to drink and a bit of a departure from the rest of the Plavac grown on the island, it is not all that fulfilling.     Tomić's more high-end wines like the Sveti Klement, Sveti Klement Reserve, and the Plavac Mali barrique are all tasty, yet very dry and lacking plush tones that we have come to expect in a good Plavac. The Sveti Klement will deserve another taste though as they're grown on Paklenici Otoci (The Devil's Islands) just off the coast of Hvar Grad. This is a much different growing area than the typical one on the south side of the island, so it will be interesting to see how these wines progress with time.     So, compared to Tomić, Duboković is something of the polar opposite. We would have never even found his cellar if it weren't for the owner of the pension we were staying at leading us there himself. The labels are very subtle and quite pleasing and there is a calmness to his cellar which we enjoyed.     But once again, the proof is in the vino, so how did they taste?     Their 2005 Rosé offered a sweet flowery nose. The body wasn't overly sweet and pulls out in to a decent finish. Overall, the wine could nearly pass for a good white, rather than a rosé due to this very different qualities to it that make it very pleasant for everyday drinking.     Their 2005 '2718' (Plavac Mali) had great herbs and tobacco on the nose. The body was very dry, but that pulled everything together very well. There was just a slight bit of fruit to it and a good finish that, much like the rosé and all of their wines made it wonderful drinking.          So, when you compare these two, what is the end result? We think that the wines are really quite similar. They're both good examples of what you can get out of Hvar. Given the very light textures to Tomić, we would have to say that we preferred Duboković just a bit more due to our tastes.

Over a summer, two travelers drink their way through the wines of Mediterranean Europe          We have visited many of the formerly state-owned, large cooperatives that were remnants of the Communist area until they were sold off in to private hands. Our treatment has ranged from pleasant to here's our boot and there's the door. Svirče on Hvar has changed all this, because despite the fact they are a big producer (700,000 to one million bottles a year), they were very inviting and were great people to sit and talk about the wine production on this very touristic island.     These guys are the biggest producer on Hvar and if you're a grower there and not selling your grapes to Plenković, Tomić, or Plančić, then you're most likely selling to Svirče. Even though they could let this go to their head, they don't and they know how to make some really good wines, which naturally, we had a good taste of. Actually, it was a great taste of nearly everything they produce, which we'll sum up with some of the shining examples showing that big wine making can make great wines.     Their 2005 Plavac Hvar is a light wine at 12.2% alcohol that has quite a light nose. Despite the $6 price tag, it's a nice wine that's easy to drink through to the finish. While nothing about it really rallies any cheers, it worked as a great lead in to the Plavac Barrique 2001, which is just slightly more expensive at $9, but is much more complex. There is more spice and a touch of tasty leather to the nose. The body is dry and smooth, maybe with a little smoked ham as an undertone. The overall texture is very buttery, but when it comes to the finish, the dryness comes out.     Despite the dominance of Korčula in Pošip production, the folks at Svirče make one that is grown from the grapes on Hvar. It's good with a stronger nose than standard Korčula Pošip. There is also a taste of raspberry to it, which was surprising and as it opens up more, a little bit of pear comes in to the picture.     One of the last wines we tasted was the 2003 Ivan Dolac Exclusive EKO. It's almost cruel to talk about the wine because it is amazing and because of that, intertwined with limited production, naturally almost impossible to find. It has rich oak and tobacco on the nose. Due to the amount of sun the grapes get, there is higher sugar which translates in to a body that is dry, but full of meat. There are subtle berry tones in to the finish and it is flat-out amazing.     We would like to thank the Svirče people for not only changing our perception of former cooperatives, but also sharing some outstanding wines with us.

Over a summer, two travelers drink their way through the wines of Mediterranean Europe          After an introduction to Zlatan Plenković's winery in Part 1 we will now continue with tasting notes on some of his wines.     But, what about the wines they have now? We tasted them and they are fantastic. We started with the 2006 Zavala, which is a strong white wine at 13% alcohol that we hadn't tasted before. It has a light fruit to the nose and carries a tad bit of citrus to it. Despite being 40% Pošip, it has a body that is more like Maraština, which is a much smaller part of the blend. Like any good wine, it gets more complex with more air, but retains the citrus tones out through the smooth finish.     We then moved to the Zlatan Plavac 2005 'regular'. This is the most basic version of their Plavac, although it is not the 'table wine' level and is still very much a 'high quality' wine as rated by Zagreb. When you first smell the nose, it almost has some dessert wine aromas to it and is dark and sweet. The body pulls up more smoothness with a touch of dryness that continues to hold the sweetish nose.     We finished out with their master creation, the Zlatan Plavac Grand Cru. It was the 2004 that we were given and the beauty of this wine is that it takes the regular Plavac and amplifies it by a factor of ten. It's almost hard to describe it beyond this except to say that is has wonderful berries to the body and that signature, smooth Plenković finish.     These wines were all stellar creations and from a man who started without the family background that so many other vintners have. Maybe it's this fresh start that freed him to try things differently, or maybe this would have been the case even if he was inheriting cellars born of 400 years of family history. If you ever find yourself in a position to try any of these wines, take advantage of it or buy them to enjoy today.

Over a summer, two travelers drink their way through the wines of Mediterranean Europe          An hour and a half by ferry from Split, the capital of Dalmatia, lies Hvar island. Called Pharos by the Greeks that occupied the island since the 4th century BC, Hvar is the longest of all Croatian islands, a narrow strip of land stretching for 42 miles. In the last few years it has become a popular touristic destination and is now famous for its lavender (of which we didn't actually see any), and its Plavac mali wines.     While not a household name in the United States, the wines of Zlatan Plenković have gotten extremely well known in wine circles and haven't stopped receiving international awards and recognition. Based in the little village of Sveta Nedelja on the Southeastern coast of the island, Zlatan Plenković's first release was just a few years ago in 1999 and he has only been producing since 1996. In that time, his wines have gotten to be in such high demand that they sell out of all their reds three months after bottling.     Zlatan Plenković is very unfortunately not in the best of health these days (although that isn't stopping him from enjoying life), his sons taking up the reigns of the business with great aplomb. We chatted with his younger son, Nikola who was a great host. He told us about some of the experimentation that they're doing in conjunction with the main Agronomical Institute in Zagreb where they are trying to grow Zinfandel, Primitivo, and Plavac Mali side by side in their vineyards. Why would they do this? Simply for the fact that these are grapes that are all closely related and in fact Zinfandel is the parent of the other two. So, they are curious to see how the grape will grow after a 150 year holiday in California. We were curious what they were going to do with the grapes after harvesting and testing and with a bit of prying, Nikola said that they would most likely bottle them, but he wasn't sure. So, as crazy as it sounds, there might be a Croatian Zinfandel and a Croatian Primitivo to buy at some point in the near future, although the release is most likely going to be so small that it will be hard to find anywhere.     Next, we talk about the wines of Zlatan Plenković's winery in Part 2 in our coverage of his winery.

Over a summer, two travelers drink their way through the wines of Mediterranean Europe          Hercegovina Produkt is the rather forceful sounding name for a winery that started out as a family-run operation. In 2002 the Barbarić family took their 150 year-old tradition of making wine from being a small affair to being one of the bigger wine producers in the Herzegovina region. While it comes across as a very large company when you come up to the building from the road, there are only seven people running it. One of them is enologist Mirela Gudelj who was nice enough to take some extra time to show us around and give us a taste of their two main wines: Blatina and Žilavka.     We started with the 2006 Žilavka which was quite typical of the region. It had nice soft fruit on the nose and was very fresh. The body was similar and gave of a sense of fresh cut vegetables and fruits, pointing to it being good, paired with salads and other appetizers in a meal. There is also a touch of apricot and peach to the body, which leads in to something of a tannic finish on it.     The 2006 Blatina was a tasty bottle. There are these sweet stripes to the nose that get sandwiched between minty, dark aromas. The closest thing I could compare the nose to would be a Dingač, but obviously it is a much, much different wine. All of the sweetness to the nose drops off in the body and you get some good mineral tones to it. This then changes again in to something a bit more dry as it finished off, but then leads out in to a nice smoothness.     While these two wines are but a sample of the greater product line of Herzegovina Produkt, they stand out as good wines produced on a large scale.

Over a summer, two travelers drink their way through the wines of Mediterranean Europe          Vitai is the company name for the brand of wine in Bosnia Herzegovina that most people know as Gangaš. It is a very different winery in the region for several reasons. The first being that it is run by three women: Olivera Juricić and her daughters, Sanja and Anđa. This is unheard of in this area because men are the wine makers and that is the end of the discussion. Women may be the enologists for a large company, but men make the wine.     Obviously it was not always the case that women ended up making the wine in this company, and it was the untimely passing of Sanja and Anđa's father that brought this about. But, instead of folding or selling to another winery as was often the case in the past, they took up the reigns and have become one of the biggest family-owned wineries in Herzegovina producing 75,000 liters last year and having a capacity of 150,000 liters. Not bad for a place that really started in earnest, in 1995 and was built out of a small, 150 year old cellar.     Another reason why they are unique is because in addition to the regional standards of Žilavka and Blatina, they are also trying to make a bit of rosé and champagne.     We tasted both their 2006 and 2004 Žilavka. The 2006 is still a bit young, but you can't taste it. There is some oak to it from the Slavonian barrels that they use, but overall it is very mellow. There is a strong dose of citrus to the nose as well as some green apple. The body is smooth and doesn't betray the rather high alcohol (for this area) of 13%. The 2004 is much more oaky, which is natural given the amount of time in the barrel. It is quite a bit heavier than the 2006 and has hints of the herbs that are used in travarica, a high-octane popular Croatian spirit. The very palpable meatiness to the body gives way just a little bit in to the finish. Trying to decide which of these years is better is impossible though as they are both quite good, albeit nearly completely different wines.     While we didn't get to the rosé, we did try the 2005 Blatina. It is good, but also very young. There is a good deal of tannic strength to the body, but the nose has good fruits. More air doesn't really change it all that much, but it will be interesting to see how it progresses with more time in the barrel.     It will also be interesting to see how this winery will progress. Sanja has been studying at the enology institute in Zagreb and is well versed in the craft of wine. These women are doing a great job with their wine and only time will tell how the wine will mix with local patriarchal ways. We hope it will somehow mix well and we will definitely pay them another visit in the future.

Over a summer, two travelers drink their way through the wines of Mediterranean Europe          Čitluk is a smallish town in Herzegovina that has a surprising number of wineries in it. The biggest one is naturally the one that was the former collective for the area under Communism called, Vinarija Čitluk. While the name and the drab building aren't the most exciting things in the world, they do produce a good number of wines of good quality. This is no small feat considering that they buy grapes from a massive area of 400 hectares in Herzegovina. They first fired up the barrels in 1960 and currently have 85 employees and a capacity of 11 million liters, although they produced a "mere" five million in 2006.     Tihomir Prusina led us through a tasting of a few of their wines, starting with the 2005 Blatina. It had good fruit in the nose, but was rather light overall. The body was very dry and had a bit of sharpness to it. This did clear out though in the finish as well as with a bit more air in it.     We also had the 2005 Blatina Barrique, which apparently spends a minimum of a year in the bottle before they sell it. This does seem to make a difference, as it is quite a good wine. There are a lot of deep berries and sweet aromas to the nose. A hint of mint, spice, as well as the oak of the barrels comes out in the nose as well. This then transfers in to a deep, meaty body that is great on the palate. There is buttery smoothness to the finish that lets out something of a blue cheese flavor and is very, very tasty.     While Vinarija Čitluk produces a great number of other wines and spirits, we only got to taste these two. They pointed to a good level of quality in the wines, which many of these former collectives don't usually have and we appreciated that a good deal.

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