THANKSGIVING

FRACTURED LIVES

When we planned our trip to Croatia last summer, we visited a country that did not exist when I was last in the area in the 1980s. It was called Yugoslavia then, which was a mashup of different ethnicities and republics all thrust together at the end of WWI. With the iron rule of Marshall Tito this worked well for a while. The country was kept from the full sway of communism and all those ethnicities were forced to cohabitate. But after Tito’s death in 1980 and the subsequent fall of Communism, Yugoslavia began to fracture as each of the republics sought independence.

 

SARAJEVO 1984

Land grabs ensued and the horrors of ethnic cleansing devastated Bosnia I Herzegovina. Many people died, and many worlds were destroyed. As Yugoslavia shuddered through the conflagration and the world shrugged her shoulders at what was perceived as ancient idiotic Hatfield v McCoy blood feuds, my friends from Sarajevo fled the city. Other friends were abroad when the insanity began and were unable to return to Sarajevo for years.

No one was without fault. Atrocities were committed on both sides. The Croats shelled Stari Most in Mostar and the Bosnians shelled Dubrovnik, both with no military value. It was madness and though the former republics of Yugoslavia, from Slovenia to Macedonia, seem to have recovered well enough, scars are still visible. Buildings near the border with Bosnia still have bullet holes, some walls in Dubrovnik remain scoured by ordinance shrapnel, one is warned not to venture off into Bosnian fields because of the still imminent threat of land mines.

SHARDS OF A FORMER LIFE  

It has been over 20 years since the siege of Sarajevo was ended after Bill Clinton finally put down his saxophone and cigar to broker the Dayton Peace Accords and though that ended the hostilities, it froze the ethnic divisions in place and today Bosnia remains one country with two entities. There is the Federation of Bosnia I Herzegovina mainly populated by Bosniak (Muslims) and Croats (Catholic) and then there is the Republika Srpska which is Serbian (Orthodox). Other countries from the former Yugoslavia, like Slovenia and Croatia are excelling economically, but Bosnia is still mired in a morass of ethnic maneuvering. Currently they are not in the European Union and unemployment in Bosnia is the consistently the highest in the Balkans.

RICK STEVES

Janet swears by Rick Steves and his traveling guide books and we bought one for the trip. He is a great and very reliable source of ideas and logistics for traveling. Considered the foremost authority on European travel, he also has a television series on PBS.

RICK STEVES 

Several times throughout the Croatia / Slovenia guidebook Steves mentions the war in Croatia and the complicated situation in Bosnia. He also says one should not bring up the War of Independence in conversation with the Croats. Inconvenient truths need not enter into the frivolity of the day. Croatia certainly has distanced herself from this conflict and as guests of this land of smiling faces and rugged landscapes and sun-splashed waters, Balkan meats and cheeses, and lovely wines, why get everyone riled up?

MY SARAJEVO

The Sarajevo I knew during the Olympics no longer exists. It may put up a brave front of a cosmopolitan city for the world to see, but nationalism, mismanagement and corruption swirls among the citizens to this day. Once, Sarajevo was truly a cosmopolitan city of Muslims, Jews, Catholics, Croats and Serbs and Bosniaks all living together in a city that was beautiful and enlightened enough to host the XIV Olympic Winter Games. Her culture and vibrancy were there on display for the world to see and her people were proud. I also heard more than once that Sarajevo was not like the rest of Yugoslavia and that she was a unique jewel. 

During and after the war many Sarajevans fled and many have never returned. Today roughly 80% of the population of Sarajevo are Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslim), with much lesser pre-war populations of Serbs and Croats. 

PARTYING LIKE IT’S 1984

Why, you may ask fair reader, I am going on about a place I haven’t been to since the 1980s and did not even visit when we were in Croatia this past summer? Boring right?

Well part of this glorious trip to Croatia last summer was to reconnect with friends from Sarajevo.  After 35 years of being apart we stayed with them at their summer house in Trpanj on the Peljesac peninsula. Throughout the week we watched hilarious home movies of our time with ABC Television, drank wine and bourbon, swam and boated on the Adriatic, drove around the countryside and drank coffee every day at Café Zalo. Life was good and serene and the final week of our visit to this part of the world made this trip very special. We saw Croatia like tourists and Croatians.

Zeljko and Hana's deck 

It was also interspersed with tales from the war. From their balcony overlooking the Adriatic, a beautiful place, Zeljko and Hana told us several harrowing tales of the siege of Sarajevo. It was the longest siege in modern warfare. From April 1992 until February 1996, the citizens of Sarajevo endured mortar shelling and sniper attacks which killed thousands. A former soccer pitch was used as a cemetery.

Zeljko and Hana no longer live in Sarajevo, Bosnia, having fled the city during the war. Eventually they settled in Zagreb, Croatia and now call themselves Croatian. They encountered lots of prejudice in the years after the war. Because he is of Catholic heritage, he had to defend his marriage to his Muslim heritage wife, Hana. He was pressed repeatedly about this and told he should divorce Hana. She was not allowed to work for a decade.

 

TRPANJ BALCONY

They fled the city with little more than the clothes on their back, escaping through a tunnel near the airport. Later Zeljko was part of team of notable Sarajevan people that helped arrange the safe passage of several busloads of children out of the war choked city. He even told us how there was a dry run for the siege about a year before when troops were blocking access points into Sarajevo. He was trying to return after a film shoot and was told he couldn’t get in, for “safety purposes.” He said that they were testing to see if such a siege was feasible a year before the conflagration.

Our jaws would drop with each tale, but Zeljko and Hana would smile their warm easy smiles and say it’s okay. It’s over. Several other home owners along the road were also from Sarajevo. There was a Serb family, a German family too, but there seemed to be a special bond amongst those from Sarajevo. They were proud of their city no matter where they live now, no matter how it has changed with the madness

There on the deck of their summer home such madness seemed impossible. Knowing such horrors can happen to good dear friends makes the sentiments of today, Thanksgiving Day, all the more poignant.


© 2019 by Greg Dunaj

WINE NOT

PELJEŠAC PENINSULA WINE NIRVANA

Prior to Team VFH’s wonderful trip last summer to the incredibly beautiful country of Croatia, we were not familiar with wines from the Dalmatian region. Oh, I knew some of the names like Dingač and Postup, but only by name; having learned of them from a NYC vintner decades ago before I first traveled to Sarajevo for the Olympics. I never drank them while at the Games and I remember at the time thinking these wines were a novelty, not worth this pseudo-oenophile’s consideration. I still won’t profess that I know what I’m talking about when it comes to Croatian wine, but I did drink a lot of them.

PLAVAC MALI GRAPES

Yes, our attitudes towards Croatian wine changed drastically because of our trip through the Dalmatian Islands and along the Peljesac peninsula last July. After all, Croatia is just across the Adriatic Sea from Italy and has the perfect climate for making wine (and olive oil). 

As we cruised the islands aboard the MV Infinity with the cruise line, Unforgettable Croatia, we sampled various and very respectable wines from all over the Dalmatian islands. From delicate whites to hearty reds, the wines of Croatia are worth the trip alone. Sadly, they are nearly impossible to find back here in the United States. Since returning home I’ve searched to no avail, although I haven’t traveled to NYC yet in my Croatian wine quest.

MADIRAZZA WINERY

DNA FOOTPRINT

The interesting thing about Croatian wines is that they are already here, although we call them Zinfandel. California Zinfandel is the third leading wine grape variety in the state, but the grape was first introduced during the Gold Rush in the mid-1850s from cuttings brought in from Croatia. DNA testing of Zinfandel revealed it is genetically the same as Crljenak Katelanski, from the Croatian town of Kasetla, north-west of Split, although the climate, terroir, cultivation and production in California has developed Zinfandel into the variety it is today. Also known by the less unwieldy name of Tribidrag the wine pairs well with steaks, game and tuna steaks.

We did not have the opportunity to taste this wine as well as several other varieties from Istria and inland, and most of our wines were from the Dubrovnik-Neretva area of south Dalmatia, but what we had was quite good.

LITTLE BLUE

Turns out Plavac Mali, the primary red wine grape of Croatia, is a child of Tribidrag. Plavac Mali translates to “little blue” and packs a big punch of rich flavor and high in alcohol and tannin content. Dingač and Postup are made with the Plavac Mali grape and make wines that get up to 17.5% alcohol! Grown on the southwestern slopes of the Pelješac Peninsula, where we conveniently stayed with friends on our final leg of our trip to Croatia, the Postup and Dingač appellations are planted on steep hillsides overlooking the Adriatic Sea with spectacular views of Mljet and Korcula. This beautiful area is the Sonoma and Napa of Croatia. Dingač is rich in taste and high in alcohol content while Postup is fruity and lighter. Both were a short drive from Trpanj where we were staying and one day, we drove through the area stopping at several wineries and made purchases at Madirazza Winery, although we had a choice of several different places. Madirazza also had a kiosk/store in Trpanj on the main road to the ferry.

Clustered in Potomje where Madirazza’s main winery is found there are several more wineries all with signs beckoning visitors to stop in and try their products. We were in the area in late July for us and mid-week, but the roads were empty. While in Madirazza, a large clean establishment surrounded by grape vines as far as the hills, there was just another couple there while we visited. I’m not sure if tours come through during the weekends, but it was very quiet.

In the Dingač area there is a long tunnel cut through the mountain to make reaching the vineyards easier. Before the tunnel mules had to transport the grapes to the wineries. Near this tunnel my friend Zeljko told us there was once an honor system winery. You fill up your container with wine from outdoor barrels and drop a few coins in the box. We looked for it briefly to no avail.

MADIRAZZA WINERY CROATIA

Here is a list of wineries on the peninsula: 

WINERIES ON THE PENINSULA

 

AT SAINTS HILLS

One night we went to Saint Hills Winery for a tasting of their wines. Set in an old stone house in the tiny village of Oskorusno, the whole evening was fascinating. Their outdoor deck overlooked their vineyards amid the hills of the Peljesac peninsula. We sampled five different wines, ending with their Dingac and we shared a plate of Croatian cheeses and meats.

SAINTS HILLS WINERY CROATIA

Here is a google map of wineries on the peninsula:

GOOGLE MAP OF PENINSULA WINERIES

ISLAND TERROIRS 

The peninsula may be where Plavac Mali is grown, but we were lucky enough to travel through the Dalmatian islands and were fortunate to taste wines that come from a particular island.  

 

KORCULA WINE BAR

On Korcula, the supposed birthplace of Marco Polo, grow two whites in the sandy soils, Grk and Pošip, although the latter is now more readily found throughout Dalmatia. Grk is as difficult to find as it is to pronounce and we only had it in a wine bar on Korcula. Grk produces only feminine flowers for some reason and to pollinate they must be planted near other varieties. Most grapes are self-pollinators.  This “feminine” wine though is well-balanced, full-bodied with a distinctive aroma. 

Pošip although once only grown on Korcula, is more common and was readily available on the MV Infinity. This mild white pairs well with seafood and cheese.  

 

a girl and her Bogdanusa

Bogdanusa means “gift from God” and this rich tasting white became a favorite of ours. You’ll never get to taste it though fair reader, unless you too travel to Hvar. This party island produces lavender and this richly colored, refreshingly flavored white and our little dinner group popped several bottles while dining at an outdoor table on the stairs outside the Black Pepper restaurant.

BLACK PEPPER RESTAURANT HVAR

We also enjoyed this rare wine in a wine bar nestled in an alley behind the main square. At Pršuta 3 we sat on chairs right in the narrow alley and were entertained by the waiter and his elaborate aerating technique. Hvar City had a decadent lively feel to it and Bogdanusa paired appropriately well with the night. 

 

LIPANOVIC, VIS

Yet, despite all this devotion to “researching” Croatian wines, there are still many corks to pop and bottles to drain and I will never pretend to know much of anything. There are several other wines from the Istrian coast and Slavonia in the interior that we were not lucky to try.  Here’s a list of Croatian grape varieties.

THE WINES OF CROATIA 

WINE TOURS

If you fair reader find yourself traveling to Croatia, you may want to consider taking a wine tour, especially if you can’t get in touch with my friend Zeljko. There are several and my suggestion is to google search for one that meets your interests. One offered by Peljesac Wine Tours will pick you up in Dubrovnik and drag you all over the peninsula, starting with a visit in Ston where you can sample oysters and deep into Dingac country and the town of Potomje to sample from wineries large and small. As part of our travels with Unforgettable Croatia we visited Ston and had some oysters.

PELJESAC WINE TOURS

WINE TOURS

Another more expensive tour group is in Split and they offer a 6 day wine tour of the entire country of Croatia. For two people it costs 4800 Euros.

CROATIAN WINE TOURS

Or, if you’re cheap, or can’t get across the Adriatic to this beautiful country find a bottle of Zinfandel and dream. 

If I find Postup or Dingac here in the states, I’ll let you know.

Aerating at Pršuta 3 on Hvar

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