Seaside Tasting Room of the Zlatan Plenkovic Estate on Hvar. (Photo courtesy Leith Steel)

A vineyard assistant named Nevin drives us the four hours south from Krk to Split in the rain, where we slog to the catamaran that will take us to Jelsa, on the north side of Hvar island, in 90 minutes. Jelsa is a gorgeous town with a riviera look—there’s obviously plenty of money here, at least in tourist season.     We’re on Hvar to visit the single winery in all of Croatia, called Zlatan Otok, that produces a Grand Cru wine. Zlatan Plenkovic, the owner, is not available to us, but his son Marin (who is finishing his studies to take up a position at the winery) takes good care of us for the twenty-odd hours we’re here. He drives us from Jelsa over the top of the island to the south side, where the winery is, via a single-lane tunnel with rough rock walls carved through the mountaintop. Marin pauses about 100 meters into the tunnel and points to a room off to the side where stainless-steel tanks are visible through the doorway—they store some of their white wine here without need for refrigeration (because of the cold rock). When they need the wine, they simply pump it out through hoses connected to a tank truck parked outside the tunnel. Come to think of it, those tanks must have been constructed inside the rock room, as they wouldn’t fit through the door!     The roadway is precipitous, with switchback curves and not a guardrail in sight. At one point we encounter a Range Rover (what folly!) that has to back up so we don’t slip off the one-and-a-half-lane road, onto the roof of a house, trying to pass it. We have a brief tour of the winery, then settle at the family house and pension lodgings three minutes away. The family is building a small tourist empire here, in this quiet, rural town Sveta Nedjelja which is isolated by the mountain looming above and by the lack of a direct road from here to fashionable Hvar city down the coast. In addition to the pension, the Plenkovic family have built a quite nice restaurant below the house on the waterfront, with a small marina attached, but have battled the winter waves each year, which wreak havoc on the underwater pilings and the restaurant windows.     Tasting Croatia’s Only Grand Cru     We sit around the family table with stoneworkers who are building a terrace in front of the house, and taste wine over supper of salad, sauteed mushrooms, roasted eggplant and octopus, and blood sausage, with a not-too-sweet walnut spice cake for dessert.     Zlatan makes a couple of whites from bogdanusa and posip grapes, of which the Otok Hvar is now being imported to the U.S. for the first time. It’s the plavac mali, the red grape that predominates in southern coastal Croatia and is closely related to zinfandel, that goes into Croatia’s grand cru. We taste the three Zlatan Plavacs side by side. The “Barrique” and the “Grand Cru” are available in our wine shop.     ZLATAN PLAVAC 2005 is 100% plavac mali matured in 5000-liter neutral barrels. It has a black cherry aroma and only medium tannin and extract, with flavors also of black cherries, blood, dry leaves/tobacco, and a tobacco finish. (This is great with the homemade spiced blood sausage we’re eating.)     ZLATAN PLAVAC Barrique 2004 spends 18-24 months in barrique. It has pronounced oak on the nose, laid over plums, blueberries, and slight tar; fairly intense flavors of black cherries, plums, dry tobacco, and new oak. A well made wine good for sipping now, or hold for two to three years. Fantastic with parmigiano.     ZLATAN PLAVAC Grand Cru 2003 spends the same 18-24 months in barrique as the wine above, but the best juice is selected for this wine. The difference is higher extract, more fruit on the nose, and a mild, sweet oak; incredible deep black fruit on the palate, much more depth, subtler oak than the barrique wine, and better integrated, with excellent balance. This will develop nicely for eight to ten years.     Up the Mountain to Vineyards and a Monastery     In the morning, it’s still raining off and on. Marin drives us up the hillside behind the winery on loose stone tracks that are just wide enough for the Jeep. The rocks around us are a hard conglomerate of sharp white stones glued together with iron-red silt. The thick red soil where the grapes grow is “made” by feeding the conglomerated stone through a rock grinder that breaks it down. The vineyards here are all plavac mali, but it’s unclear whether they belong to Zlatan or to one of the growers he buys from. He buys all the grapes produced between the winery below us and a point about 4km to the west, toward Hvar town. Marin tells us all the growers are organic. Ultimately the best juice ends up in the grand cru wine.     We’re at the very top of the steep vineyards, just beneath the rocky mountaintop, so we hike just a little farther up to a cave where there’s a tiny Augustine monastery dating to the 1500s. The mouth of the cave is huge. Just where the opening begins, there is a retaining wall with a stone staircase leading up through a gate to a level terrace. In the center of this yard there’s a well with a wooden cover, a cross, and an empty and dilapidated stone hut that now has grafitti inside from hikers and campers. On the right is a chapel which is still used at least once each year, when there’s an Easter procession up the hill through the vineyards with a statue of Christ on the cross. Up a few steps to one side of the cave is a shrine to the Virgin Mary, and up steps to the other side one can go to the back of the cave, behind the shrubbery surrounding the monastery. There’s a large chamber that Marin says once led through the mountain to two different destinations, but the access point is now purposely blocked with boulders.     After lunch we head to Hvar city, a lovely resort town that we don’t have time to see because we’re catching a ferry to Korcula. It has finally stopped raining, and we sit in the cushioned outdoor lounge in front of one of the new boutique hotels drinking Cuba Libres and espresso until the boat arrives.

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.