The Zoom meeting connected speakers from Dubrovnik, Croatia (including the Mayor of Dubrovnik) Washington, DC, and Boston, MA welcoming over fifty participants, and was also shown on Facebook Live, where within the first 24 hours more than two thousand additional viewers joined in to enjoy the beautiful view of the peaceful Dubrovnik Old Port.
The sensational view from “Gradska Kavana” is still possible to see through high-quality video at the Coravin Marketplace: Timeless in Dubrovnik: Wine and History Preserved | Coravin. Croatian Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia to the US, his excellency Pjer Šimunović, was present and emphasized to all that Croatia is open for business and encouraged travelers so that Americans can now start thinking about booking their flights to Croatia, particularly as the news about United Airlines, direct flight from Newark, NJ, to Dubrovnik has been just announced.
Mr. Šimunović, as well as Ms. Ana Hrnić, director of the Dubrovnik Tourist Board, underscored that the country is putting a lot of effort into creating all necessary protective measures, including vaccination of the people working in tourism and creating centers for testing the foreign visitors. She mentioned www.SafeStayinCroatia.hr website where everybody can be easily informed about the epidemiological situation throughout Croatia, including the islands, and get the key information regarding the nautical industry.
To showcase Croatia’s history and culture, as well as the oeno-gastro scene, Mr. Mato Franković, the Mayor of the City of Dubrovnik, welcomed all to the Dubrovnik’s Old Port. Since the event was designed to promote not only Croatia and Dubrovnik as such, but the wines of the region, Ksenija Matić, sommelier, WSET, and a wine judge introduced the wines, starting with Dubrovačka Malvasija. For centuries, the Dubrovnik Republic’s Rectors were welcoming guests with that wine variety, which was first mentioned as early as in the 1300s.
Mr. Mayor should know a thing or two about wines – in addition to running the “Grod” for the last four years – because he originally comes from the Pelješac peninsula known for great wineries. – Although I am not a Rector – said Mr. Franković jokingly – I frequently welcome officials to Dubrovnik with Dubrovačka Malvasija – as he raised a glass to the viewers, inviting them to come to Dubrovnik. Siniša Lasan, WSET, wine judge, and a three-time Croatian National Champion Sommelier, also joined the tasting to talk about #Plavacmali and specifically two different winemaking styles. The wines presented included Crvik winery from Konavle and Vinarija Rizman winery, as well as Terra Madre Winery and Vinogradi Volarević, from Komarna Appellation, plus SAINTS HILLS WINERY with the wine from the Dingač Appellation. Ksenija Matić, the owner of www.Eventlab.hr event agency, and a sommelier, WSET, later commented:
“It was a great pleasure to participate in the wine tasting held in Dubrovnik but aimed primarily for American wine lovers. In addition, I was also chatting with the inventor and founder of Coravin, Inc., Greg Lambrecht, who is an absolutely awesome guy!”
Greg is a self-professed American in Love with Croatia, who started coming to Croatia because of his professional background in the development of medical equipment. He was developing a medical device for spinal surgeries, and he started working with Croatian neurosurgeons, who are, according to Greg, among the best in the world. He was performing different clinical trials of the device at the Dubrava Hospital in Zagreb and at the University of Rijeka, so he got to know Croatia very well and desperately fell in love – with the country. He came to Dubrovnik for the first time with the Croatian Neurosurgical Society and was taken by the beauty of the city, the friendliness of the people, the delicacy of the food, and of course, delighted with the wines. When he decided to establish Coravin to develop revolutionary wine pouring devices, it was in Dubrovnik that he raised the largest amount to finance his venture. A wealthy businessman called him and said: – We will meet in the best city in the world!. When Greg asked which city it was, the gentleman said: – Dubrovnik, of course!
Today, Coravin company holds a whole line of different products used in restaurants and bars around the world – which help to preserve the wine, or as they say, let you sip a glass of wine at a time, and save the bottle to enjoy later. In fact, during the Zoom meeting – Greg showcased the new product they are just about to launch – the Coravin Pivot.
“Now you tell me that this is not a PHENOMENAL story !!! How much do we use similar stories, and there are more, and the potential we have in wine tourism – for the promotion of Dubrovnik and Croata? People like Greg are actually fantastic ambassadors and promoters of our wines and the country in general. I am happy that we can meet people like this through our business, connect with them and promote our wines,” said Ksenija Matić. And she was right!
Organizers of the event:
- www.CroatianPremiumWine.com, an importer and online retailer of more than 50 Croatian wine labels available for shipping to most US states.
- the Croatian Embassy in Washington D.C., https://www.facebook.com/croembdc
- The Croatian Chamber of Economy, Dubrovnik County, https://www.hgk.hr/zupanijska-komora-dubrovnik
- the Dubrovnik Tourist Board, www.tzdubrovnik.hr/lang/en/index.html,
- the City of Dubrovnik, http://www.dubrovnik.hr/,
- EventLab, www.EventLab.hr, a wine tours, and events company;
- Gradska Kavana/Arsenal Restaurant, https://www.nautikarestaurants.com/gradska-kavana-arsenal/;
- Malostonska Kamenica/Mali Ston Oysters Association, www.facebook.com/malistonoyster and
- Coravin, www.Coravin.com, a US-based company producing ultimate tools for preserving wine, including its founder and inventor Greg Lambrecht, an MIT scientist applying biomedical background to the wine field.
