The Hvar wine story is gathering momentum. A glimpse of wine tourism in the future.
Years ago in a previous life as a wine merchant, I made regular trips to the vineyards and accompanying small villages of France. It was always a highlight of the job, and tasting the wines and relaxing with a glass or two in the pretty rural squares was one of the perks of what was already a pretty fun job.
I remember the joy of seeing the signs welcoming visitors to wine country, and one visit to the village of Sancerre in particular. One of my favourite wines, it was my first visit to Sancerre and nearby Pouilly Fume, and there was a magic about entering the ‘wine zone’. Everything in the town was geared to the wine, and we had a very pleasant two (or was it three?) bottles of an excellent local Sancerre on the pretty main square.
Wine tourism, the noble grape fully integrated into the way of life and the cornerstone of tourism in the region.
For the first nine years of my life on Hvar, my association with the village of Svirče was limited – and a little comical. As a real estate agent, I did a blind viewing of a property with clients, only to walk into a bedroom with coffins in it. Bedroom sleeps ten, I said quickly, before ushering the clients out – read about it here.
I passed the Svirče wine cooperative every time I drove through the village, but had never (to my knowledge) tried wine from Svirče. That all changed with the Total Hvar project and research for the guidebook.
I have spent a lot of time in Svirče recently, with wine buyers from California and Norway, as well as the wonderful Dušan from Wines of Balkans. I have reported on the very impressive wine story from Svirče in the last 18 months – organic gold medals in Germany, the first exports to American, no less than three of Croatia’s top ten reds being sent to China, as determined by a panel of Croatian experts, more medals in Bulgaria, the arrival of Chinese investors to look at the possibilities with the Plavac Mali market – the list goes on. I was involved in the promotion of one of the best events last summer – the wine tasting and zoga falo event in the tiny village square (see the video below) – and the more I look at Svirče, the more I remember…
The village of Sancerre.
I have been fortunate to have been part of two excellent tastings with the team from the Carić Winery in recent days – for Californian and Norwegian buyers. Not just a tasting, but a full spread of starters, risotto and fish at the excellent Kod None restaurant in the village. A premium night out, and there is no better wine and culinary experience on the island.
The two main producers in the village – Carić and the Svirče Cooperative – have excellent quality and a growing international reputation. They are a couple of kilmotres from Jelsa, where the star names of Tomić and Duboković sit alongside the lesser known, but equally excellent wines of Teo Huljić.
There are plans in place to develop an official wine road for Hvar. It will not be easy and will take time, but all the ingredients are there, and if there is a Hvar Sancerre, it would certainly be the village of Svirče.
Exciting times for the wines of Hvar.
