The international visitors to the heart of Hvar wine country are increasing.
It is only since I started taking such an interest in the Hvar wine story that I realised just how international it is. Things are very busy in the heart of Hvar wine, with several international visitors around at the moment, this just days after the Hvar Wine Association hosted a major press trip after Dalmacija Wine Expo.
The international visitors in and around the wine town of Jelsa and the wine village of Svirce seem to be increasing. We bade fond farewell to Norway’s Bob de Young last night over dinner at Me and Mrs Jones, where the steak in a wine sauce from Ivo Duboković’s 2718 plavac was washed down with a nice bottle of the Carić Ploški Plovac. Bob was here for two days meeting the wines of Zlatan Otok and Duboković, before taking some bottles back for his exclusive tasting for some influential wine professionals in Oslo on May 26.
Before Bob left, he had the chance to meet Catherine Hanley from Arizona, who is back on Hvar putting the final touches to the intern programme between Fresno State University in California and some Hvar winemakers, a programme which will see American wine students spending 7 weeks in Dalmatia – mostly on Hvar – and return home with a love of Hvar and its wines, which should have some great long-term benefits. The programme will be based mostly in Jelsa and start in May 2014.
Catherine has meetings in Svirče tomorrow, but she will not be the only foreigner in the wine village tomorrow, as a gastro tour agency from California has been in contact with us after seeing our proposed wine tourism project online, with a view to starting gastro tours to Jelsa and Svirče from 2014.
I might be a little late for that meeting, as Andro Tomić dropped into The Office for morning coffee today, to tell me that a Swedish wine journalist is coming to see him in the morning, and he would like me to meet him as well. And let’s not forget the major press trip promoting the heritage of Hvar in a few days, a perfect opportunity to showcase the Hvar wine story, and where better than over dinner at the splendid Bastijana cellars.
These are exciting times for the winemakers of Hvar, and there is a great opportunity to create something truly special and raise the level of tourism in central Hvar. If you would like to work with us, please contact us at [email protected]
