(Photo courtesy of http://www.dubrovniknet.hr)
Of all the tragedies surrounding the fires in Dalmatia, one of the saddest concerns the famous Grgic winery. TCN’s Cliff Rames reports.
Late Monday night, a savage wildfire consumed large swaths of scrub pine, olive and fig trees, and vineyards on the Pelješac peninsula in Dalmatia, one of Croatia’s most renowned wine-growing regions, leaving as many as 600 hectares of rocky landscape–as well as cars and some homes–blackened and charred at the height of the tourist season.
Especially hard hit was the area around the tiny seaside hamlet, Trstenik—home of the world-famous Grgić Vina, a winery founded by legendary—and Croatian-born—Napa Valley winemaker, Mike Grgich of Grgich Hills Estate in Rutherford, CA.
Located in the hills above Trstenik, overlooking the Adriatic Sea and surrounded by pine forests and vineyards, Grgić Vina is a major tourist attraction and stopping point on the road between Dubrovnik and Dingač, Croatia’s oldest geographically-protected wine growing appellation—and source of some of the greatest Plavac Mali wines.
