My family loves to go to trips and on friend's invitation to spend a weekend in the countryside near the town of Roc in central Istria we hardly waited. The weather was beautiful. In the shade of mulberry tree in front of a stone house while enjoying biska and goat cheese we planned how to spend the next day. Should we go to a nearby horse farm and enjoy a horseback riding or make a route on the Istrian wine trails. We decided to take a tour of the old town of western Istria and visit several wineries.


















Driving Istrian road where you meet hardly any cars is also a pleasure. At the Motovun forest we turned right toward the old medieval town of Oprtalj. Since  Oprtalj is located on a hill, the road became steeper and winding. Before entering the Oprtalj we stopped at the lookout which offers a magnificent view of the Istrian hills and Mirna River valley, the most beautiful sight is on the opposite hill on where is Motovun. Motovun is famous for the Film Festival (Motovun Film Festival from 26.7.-30.7), which I didn't  miss in a single year, so I will certainly write about it later. Full of positive energy we have entered Oprtalj. It surprised us with its tranquility. It seemed to us as if in this beautiful stone town are living just a few families and domestic animals. We sat in the town square next to the preserved baroque town loggia where is smaller lapidary, and over the walls view shoots across the surrounding countryside. It seemed as we entered a time machine and stopped at some past time where there is no rush and problems. We enjoyed listening to the birds singing. We walked the narrow streets, small squares and covered passages and discovered several baroque churches with painted frescoes.

The friendly locals proudly pointed out to us that we are in "the epicenter of truffles" and that if we are lovers of traditional cuisine we can't leave and not try at least some truffle speciality. On our return we decided to go for dinner at a restaurant"Marino" in the village  Kremenje.

We continued our travel on small roads in between woods, vineyards and olive groves of northwest Istria to the picturesque towns of Momjan. You will recognize it by an interesting castle built in the 13th century and the church of St. Martin with a bell tower 22 meters high. The beauty of it is enriched by many water wells. And the view that streach from here is often said is the most beautiful in Istria. Our goal here was to visit several top wine cellars.

Turning next to the wrought iron fence on which are the initials of Marina Markežića and signs with the word cellar Kabola driving on a gravel road through the vineyard approaching the beautiful stone house with a yard full of flowers. I can not help feeling as if I were in the middle of Tuscany.
We descend the stone steps of the tasting room, where we are welcomed by the owners and presented us with several types of Malvasia. Kabola winery is completely organic production and therefore for me cause a lot of respect. They like to boast with special wine Malvasia Amphora where the fermentation takes place in contact with the skins (maceration) in an amphora, a terracotta pot. Seven months of maceration in amphora, wine ages in Slavonian oak barrels (4000 liters barrels). After bottling, the wine is being refined in bottles from six months to a year. Only then goes for a sale.

I was thrilled by Muscat Momjanski indigenous variety of Momjanština. Thanks to its location and microclimate it is unique in the world. The wine has a straw-yellow color, very aromatic, rich aroma that lingers nostrils. Wine is on the verge of semi-sweet and sweet, but on the other hand fresh and very tasty.

We quite happy leaving to the basement Kozlović. Driving along the narrow road, we are not sure whether it is in front of us a wine cellar or a high-tech institute. Basement Kozlović is distinctly modern buildings where high quality wines. Make sure that the winery on Sundays and public holidays are not working. On their website there are the application forms where you can choose the tasting program you're most interested in. If you are in the vicinity do not miss to visitKozlovice and taste for me the best Malvasia Santa Lucia, Muscat Momjan, as well as other wines.

It's lunchtime. We are hungry and we heading to the Villa Vilola. Let's go "to a safe place." We believe that everything offered there is to be perfect. And so it was. Villa Vilola is a wonderful small boutique hotel with excellent cuisine. It is located in Zambratija near Savudrija and Savudrija is a small town near Umag. In the past,  Roman nobles chose this part of Istria for their villas and summer residences. In addition to its beautiful villas and the oldest Adriatic lighthouse built in 1818., the Savudrija  is known for intriguing love story of two most famous Istrian lovers, Count Matternichu and Savurdijan girl who used the lighthouse as a love nest.

Afternoon walk along the coast overlooking the Bay of Piran rest and recharges the battery. Only a few hundred meters from the lighthouse of Savudrija is one of the leading wine cellar Degrassi.Ten minutes I sit and think how to describe Moreno Degrassi wine and not because I have doubts but because I do not know how to describe something so good. To experience the wine there should be a lot of coinciding . It happened to me (accidentally or not) that have always been with their wines that coincided all the conditions required for the full experience. I just admire the wine cellar Degrassi. The atmosphere in the tasting room is fantastic, and it is not rare that you are served by Moreno. To say that he is "the best wine maker among chefs and the best chef among winemakers," I asked him what he thinks about it? That "best" will you decide. Otherwise, I like to cook and I am doing it longer than with the winemaking, says Moreno. Even as a child, Mom taught me to cook stews, soups and a variety of cakes, so I went quite early with it.

Venison stew with homemade pasta was the best that I have ever tasted and Teran  we drank  fits excellently with the sauce, in which, I suppose is a little of Teran. In a good sauce there should always be added a little good wine says Moreno, the rule is that, the wine that is added in the food, should be drink later. I love to add a little olive oil over pasta. Olive oil doesn't make food greasy but fat cover and completeness. And finally, completes the Istrian terroir, the integrity of a region, and we now on the plate have all that is best in the region, such as wine, olive oil, wild and game.

We can without prevarication state that the Istria with its quality and beauty is completely equal  to the world's best regions. We can say that without fear and for wine, because in recent years it was demonstrated at numerous international competitions, such as the Wine Challenge and Decanter, winning numerous gold medals.

It was getting dark, we were tired and very satisfied. The day was completely filled. Tomorrow is waiting for us to enjoy the beautiful Cićarija.

Photos by: Bruno Gracin

Not far in Zavalatica lives winemaker, poet and sculptor Luke Krajančić. A modest and simple by nature, says he is a small man from small island that does what he loves. There is no doubt that he does it very successfully because the news about him and his fine wines far exceeds the boundaries of his beautiful Zavalatica, as well as the borders of our country. Luke Krajančić is currently the most important Posip manufacturer. In addition to silver and gold medals at international competitions, the American magazine Wine and Spirit included it in the category of value for the money among the top 100 wines in the world.


In a recent interview he said that the inevitable question that he had always been asked is "how much do you produce?" "I like to say that I produce one bottle for one man. And every one who has tasted the bottle had to  be touched in that part of the soul that is entered in, and then the cycle is closed, "says Luke. "Grapevine I don't see as something that would give me a certain number of pounds of which to receive a certain number of bottles that will bring me a number of Kunas. I don't think this way and in that part figures are completely irrelevant! The point is that you enter vineyard with your full heart. And not just wine production but to make it familiar enough in your own way! Making wine closer to others I had showed myself thru it. In my wine story between me and the wine I'm just statist and listener, "says Luke Krajančić.

It is interesting, what Sasa Špiranec, wine expert told me about Luka Krajacic: "Luka Krajančić changed posip completely. Posip is already known for decades as southern character wine, with a full body, a lot of alcohol, bitterness and at the end, maturity. But he came with a completely new style of Posip, refreshing posip, fragrant, full of herbal aroma. We just did not know that this variety can do this. In the vineyard he used one method, he let more leaves to grow, earlier harvests to get more acidity, more freshness and it proved to be a big hit. The market has gone crazy for his posip. He is probably the only Posip manufacturer who easily sells all quantities. Never there is enough no matter that his wine is not cheap. On the other hand he did not sacrifice quality. So,  he reduced the yield and despite the freshness  made a wine of high quality, fullness, vitality. All that we expect from the wine. "

It is difficult to present the sea in this attractive way, the landscape where this poet belongs, as well as himself of his verses:
It's like you're on top of the world pull aria
and let your voice ... .. Or in the orchestra of 100 instruments nicest note that plays bass ..

That's what heals all wounds, removes what is bad, collects salt, and somewhere save all our faults, and somewhere fill a table of a hungry man ..

Pull the aria and the voice is spreading, and life passes, you come to the end, and when paradise is almost in sight, you say - I've already seen a paradise once.

It's as if you are and you're not, pull the aria, and let the voice, as if the bottom rope hanging beautiful and ugly at the same time.

It is sea, my son which is the greatest when you would not want it .. It is sea, it's love, and the sea, that is and I and you ...

Not far from Prizba the location where it was discovered indigenous variety Pošip, in the small town of Smokvica, near the border with Carom. Pošip is the first Croatian white wine with protected geographic origin, protected 1967. There is an interesting story about how he got the name Posip.

The story goes that Smokvica farmer Marin Tomasic called Caparin mid-19th century. Found a "strange" vine that developed rods on pomegranate or as they say in Smokvica growing "po sipku". Over time the last syllable had fallen off and there was only Posip. Professors Maletic and Pejic with the Faculty of Agriculture, Zagreb in 2002 with their research and DNA analysis proved that the Pošip  by its "birth" is native of Korcula and his parents are Bratkovina white and Zlatarica.

Posip comes in several faces. Perhaps the most interesting succees is that Cara winery and winery Krajančić displayed in the last ten years, and this is a wine of a high proportion of fresh and herbal aromas. White wine is always expect to be in part an refreshment. Pošip had previously been wine of southern character, with high alcohol and the weight that was typical for southern wines. Today, modern pošip, which those two wineries have spawned is fragrant, refreshing. It  has its southern character, still, but it has  freshness

Luka Krajancic

Prizba

Passing Blato, I turned on the road to Prizba. I remembered a similar journey of twenty years ago. We were shooting a documentary about the island. A colleague who helped me choose the location asked me if I wanted to capture the village where no one lives but the nature and beautiful vistas. It sounded promising.


We drove down the road a few kilometers. In the midst of olive groves we turned on the path overgrown with grass. After a few kilometers, I saw a few stone houses in front of which was a village signboard "Dub". Ironically, namely Dub is a popular name for oak (Quercus robur) tree of exceptional longevity that can reach the age of 800 years. It was spring, it was all green and blooming, but somehow empty. I walked up to an old wooden door at the entrance to a house. My gaze was attracted by big key that hung on rusted nails driven into the beam of the door.
Gently I pushed the door and entered the room that due to the bright sun was completely dark. Entering the room, I felt as if I entered the lives of the people who lived there. When my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I saw that I was in the central room in which they lived. On the stove was a pot, above it on the shaft hung weathered dusty bowls. By the stove was an old plate with wrinkled yellow letters. This sense of weight and sadness I felt then, I still feel now after twenty years when I think of Dub. As if someone had ordered the immediate forced evacuation.


And so it was only the evacuation in that 1928 was "prepared by" phylloxera (Viteus vitifoliae) that destroyed 97% of the vineyard from which the majority of the population lived on Korcula. More than half  population moved from island, mainly in overseas countries.

When the phylloxera in 1868 completely jeopardized the French viticulture, France imported primarily Dalmatian wines. This prompted the development of viticulture in Dalmatia, although the agricultural sector has always been very important to the island.


The Statute of the town and island of Korcula from 1214, a number of provisions which show the importance of viticulture and wine production. Thus, the Statute provides that at the time of ripening grapes no one should pass a vineyard at night with them if there is no lit candle holder. For intentional damage to or destruction of vineyards punishment was cutting off hand.

Driving thru Prizba I think about the people who had to leave this piece of paradise and go into the unknown. Unknown is too mild word. Most of these people set sail to Australia and New Zealand, carrying with them all worth in a suitcase and bare hands to begin creating new life. I was not surprised when I found the fact that several of the most important New Zealand winemaker are of Croatian origin. I'm thinking about this road of no return, to connect those mosaic pieces in the film story. I'll probably start to consider it seriously, soon.