March 28, 2022 - The Oscars were celebrated on Sunday night with Croatian wine in Hollywood!

Celebrating the art of filmmaking is supposed to be the key topic of Hollywood's biggest night – the Oscars. While there are a few controversies about this one, no such thing was an issue at Jonathan Baker’s “Oscar is Women” themed viewing party, taking place at the former residence of Warren Beaty.  And guess what? Croatia played a key role.

Hollywood’s Entertainment Industry Is Into Croatian Wines

Can you imagine an entertainment party without libations? Of course, not. Croatian wines Pošip and Babić were served to the attendees as they got settled to watch the Oscar night.  

“The word got around about the quality wines and the line was long to get to them,” said Ms. Iva Bahunek Modrič, CEO of the Croatian Tourism Board office in Los Angeles, who attended the party with Mr. Larry Namer, the owner of the Entertainment Channel.  Mr. Namer has traveled to Croatia and loves the country and its gourmet and wine scene, and this evening he got the bragging rights about the Croatian wines which he has already experienced in Croatia.

Indigenous Croatian wines – a Pošip from the Terra Madre Winery, Komarna Appellation, and a The Dalmatian Dog Babić from the Testament Winery, Šibenik was served to the attendees together with a California Napa Merlot.  

“Pošip and Babić are easy to sip and everyone appreciates their structured, yet soft Mediterranean flavors,” added Ms. Modric of Croatian Tourism Board.  “Sipping Croatian wine in a foreign country, envokes the scents of Adriatic which transfer people to Croatia. We are excited that Americans are starting to value the indigenous Croatian wines even in the middle of California, which clearly has many wines to be proud of.”

The Jonathan Baker party at his Baker Manor was dubbed the “Oscar is a Woman” party where Jonathan shot a video with Variety Magazine about the concept behind Oscar being a woman. We are sure this brought up a great conversation at the viewing party.  But, most importantly for the Croatian community in the US – it was clear to the attendees, which were on Hollywood's whos who list, that Croatian winemaking can stand up to the best of California.

These two wines, Pošip and Babić, represent more than 70 indigenous Croatian wines currently available in the US and shipped to most US states. 

For more information about Croatia and the Croatian wines in the US, visit www.Visit-Croatia.org and www.CroatianPremiumWine.com. 

For more information on this Hollywood event and other happenings with the Croatian wines, visit @CroatianPremiumWine on Facebook and IG. 

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Brna and Smokvica, somewhere half-way between Korčula and Vela Luka, invite you to visit them, not just drive through. 

The Tourist Board of Korčula, the Čara local administration, the Tourist Board of Smokvica Municipality and 14 winemakers from Čara and Smokvica would like to invite you to visit the 8^th Pošip Days in Čara and Smokvica, taking place July 28 – August 3^rd this year.

May 28, 2018 - Continuing our look at the grapes of Croatia - a white wine synonymous with Korčula - Pošip.

Korčula island has several well known and respected indigenous varieties of white wine, and Pošip is among them. It is mostly grown in the sheltered fields in the central part of the island, Čara and Smokvica fields and around them, where most of the work in the vineyard is still done by hand, because of difficult approach. This is probably the variety of wine with best researched history, that goes back to the exact year (1864) and location when the first vine was discovered and started spreading in the fields of Čara and Smokvica.

The genetic analysis performed on the variety has shown that it comes from two less known varieties, Bratkovina Bijela and Zlatarska Bistrica, both varieties present exclusively on Korčula, so it is certain that Pošip was not brought to Korčula by sea (supposedly, by the Greeks who started growing vines on the island). In the last 30 or 40 years (in the sixties Pošip wine was the first white quality wine officially given that title) it has been cultivated elsewhere on the Croatian coast, on Pelješac, islands of Brač and Hvar and as north as Ravni kotari close to Zadar. The name of the variety has interesting story behind it – actually, it has two. “Pošip” either comes from a local word that describes the specific shape of the berry, or because the original vines were grown next to and around the pomegranate tree (šipak), which grows abundantly in the area.

The grapes are picked relatively early, and are unusually sweet for such an early variety, with adequate acids. One of the things wine-lovers almost never do is eat the grapes fresh, off the vine, but with Pošip – if you ever get the chance, go for it, it’s delicious to eat! Once the leftover grapes that haven’t been eaten are turned into wine, it is golden yellow in colour, very viscous in the glass, dry, it has relatively high alcohol content (sometimes over 14 percent) and the aroma is very fruity, reminiscent of apricots, citrus fruits, almonds and figs. Aged Pošip wine is best served at 12 – 14 °C, and should be had with grilled white fish or any type of seafood, white meats and stronger cheeses. Younger, fresher wine goes excellent with shellfish and as an aperitif. Some of the producers age the wine in oak barrels and then in the bottles, and Pošip from an oak barrel will be best friends with the octopus.

Traditionally, dessert wine was also made with Pošip grapes, but these days not a lot of desert Pošip wine can be found. Many local producers create excellent Pošip, and probably most famous is PZ Pošip Čara. One very famous wine-making name is also making some wonderful Pošip wine: Mike Grgich in his Pelješac winery, and so is the Korta Katarina winery from Orebić. On Korčula side of the channel there are other excellent producers of Pošip, Intrada Krajančić winery, Šain-Marelić winery and Kunjas winery headed by a very young chief oenologist, making some breakthroughs. Outside of the Korčula area Bibich is producing Pošip in his vineyards around Skradin, Plenković has vineyards near Makarska and his Pošip won Decanter awards, showing that there is great potential for Pošip beyond Korčula. Additionally, if you ever see a Pošip made on Brač, called Pošip Stina, you will recognize it as it has one of the most notable wine labels in Croatia.

The story of winemaking in Korčula is an ancient tale, dating back to the Greeks, but these days it can be summarized into two major winegrowing regions, and three most significant wine varieties grown on the island.

The Pošip sur lie by Madam Ahearne belongs among the most character Dalmatian white wines in general

The event marked fifty years since the legal protection of Pošip, an indigenous variety of Korčula

In Tomić's edition, the variety presents all its splendour and along with freshness, it offers more complex aromas of riper southern fruit, rounded with aging in oak barrels.

Continuing our look at the indigenous grapes of Croatia on July 29, 2016 - a Dalmatian white wine favourite, Pošip.