Pošip Days are a week-long event, taking place on the island of Korčula during the summer (in late July and early August). The event is organized by the tourist boards of Smokvica, Korčula, a hotel in Brna and 13 wineries from Smokvica and Čara that grow and sell pošip. Smokvica, Brna and Čara are villages in the central portion of the island, near (or directly on) the southern coast. The festival has been taking place since 2011, and this year the 6th edition lasted for 6 days, during which the open door days take place in the wineries, and the final evening of the festival was held in the Zavalatica bay.
The objective of the happening is to improve the branding of the indigenous wine variety, that is very well known on Korčula, but should find its way to more Croatian consumers, as well as to numerous tourists visiting the island each year. The reason why the festival is organized in those central locations and not in the Korčula town is that the region around Čara and Smokvica is where most of the pošip is grown, and has been a well-known wine-making region for almost 2500 years, since the ancient Greeks brought first vines to the island of Korčula. So, in late July and early August, when this event takes place, it makes sense to try and lure the tourists out of the very busy town, and get them to see the wonderful vineyards where the wine is grown and the view on the Korčula’s southern coastline.
Wineries participating in the event are: Baničević-Car, Didovinka, Grošić, Kunjas, Milina, Plasa, Stanojević, Tomašić, Toreta and Vidilo from Smokvica, and PZ Nerica, PZ Pošip and Šain-Marelić from Čara. During the open doors days in the wineries, the best course of action is to purchase a branded glass somewhere in a tourist office on the island (40 kuna, or at least that’s how much it was in 2016) and take a map and visit all of them, day after day. And then, on the final night of the festival, take the aforementioned glass with you to where the closing ceremony is taking place (it’s been organized in Brna and Zavalatica in the past year, but we’re sure you’ll be able to find it) and enjoy the crowd of wine-lovers, chilled pošip, some local music and a warm night. Just, please, don’t ask if they have any red wine…
