Another sleepless night ahead on Korčula and Pelješac
Photo by portaloko.hr
As the firefighters continue to battle with the relentless blaze on Korčula and as the army joins the air and land troops on Pelješac, evacuated residents of small towns Pijavicino and Trstenik are looking up at the sky in search of any sign of rain or at least lower temperatures but to no avail. Luckily, there were no human casualties, but animals, hundreds of olive trees, pines and vines were swallowed by the blaze as well as industrial properties including the winery owned by the world famous wine maker Miljenko Mike Grgić.
One of our renowned wine bloggers Željko Garmaz (Vinsnke priče – Wine stories) wrote a very moving Facebook post this afternoon describing the devastation caused to renowned winemakers on Pelješac and we would like to share it with you:
A postcard we won’t see again for a very long time by Željko Garmaz Vinske priče
Photo by Maja Sajler Garmaz
Devastating fire which started on Monday and caused the evacuation of the entire village of Trstenik unfortunately destroyed all local vineyards and olive groves. It is a miracle no lives were lost. My friend Sven Radovanović lost all 8 000 vines, a young vineyard recently planted by Mate Braenović was also swallowed by the blaze and Mike Grgić’s winery, one of the landmarks of Trestenik was badly damaged. In the words of Krešo Vučković, the two fires met right in front of Karaula where the winery was located “and we just could not defend it”!
New reports on the fire-fighting efforts are coming in every minute, we will keep you posted on all new developments.
