So, if you have a family history that definitively dates back to 1500, and you know that your family has lived off vineyards, wine and grappa for at least the last hundred years, you are going to name your winery proudly after your last name. So, that’s exactly what Andro Crvik did in 1993, when he decided to open his own winery in Konavle, after working with wine for others since 1969. In that time (let’s just say that Konavle was severely affected by Croatian war for independence, and was even occupied until late 1992), that region was not famous for its wine, and Andro Crvik decided to change that perception, both with excellent work in the vineyard and in the cellar.
Konavle is not a large region, and cannot produce high amount of wines each year (and, unfortunately, there isn’t much where the vineyards could be planted with additional effort), so it needs to strive for the highest quality achievable. So, he planted malvasija dubrovačka, local indigenous variety that was much neglected until recent generation of winemakers decided to revitalize it (these days premium quality malvasija is sold as Tezoro). Another white wine growing in their vineyards is also a local favourite, maraština (bottled with the label Canavia) – and both of those white varieties give best grapes possible in the Konavle field.
Crvik winery, of course, has plavac mali vineyards, at several prime locations that produce excellent quality red wine, with characteristic plavac mali flavour, but also a noticeable “Konavle twist” (they offer two types of plavac mali: Pomet is premium, and Canavia is the quality wine – and both of them are aged in oak barrels, as a serious plavac should be). And, yes, they grow a bit of the non-indigenous red varieties, merlot and cabernet sauvignon, and their merlot sold under the label Negromant is one of those wines you really have to give a try, if you ever get a chance. Vilin ples is a blend of the three red varieties, possibly the best Croatian attempt at blending the famous Bordeaux varieties with specific flavour of plavac mali. Crvik also makes rose wine called Fiora, a soft and sweet Merlot.
The future of the winery lays in the hands of the young oenologist, Petar Crvik, not quite surprisingly – the owner’s son. He has big plans for the family winery, but also plans to brand Konavle as a wine region of excellent winemakers, which needs to take advantage of the 20 kilometres distance to Dubrovnik, being very close and quite distant at the same time.
