Croatia | Sea | Kayaking | Tours | Lifejacket Adventures - Adriatic Expeditions

I headed across to Hvar Island yesterday for a Wine Tour with Agnete and Christian, two members of one of Norway’s biggest hard-core bands, Madder Mortem. The plan was to introduce them to as much of the island and its wine and food in 12 hours as possible.

Our friend Mili at Hertz Rentals was kind enough to give us a Jeep Wrangler for the day. Given the warm weather, it was perfect to be able to take the roof off as we cruised the island.

We started with a walk to the small beach of Lučišće Bay. I was unfortunately shocked to see a new road had destroyed the serenity of this once stunning road. Zlatan Plenković, from the winery Zlatan Otok, is responsible for this disaster. He is the ‘big man’ in town and wanted the road to bring more guests to his failing restaurant. I’m not sure how Zlatan can look at himself in the mirror, as he and other like-minded, unthinking or corrupt scoundrels in Croatia seemed determined to destroy its natural beauty. (If anyone reads this and is coming to Croatia please don’t buy Zlatan Plavac or any of the other wines from Zlatan Otok!)

For lunch we drove up along the dirt track that runs along the spine of the island to Konoba Humac. Humac is a traditional, inland village. The abundance limestone on Dalmatian Islands gave the locals an unlimited supply of construction material. In Humac everything is stone; the walls and roofs of the houses, the fences for the animal pens and the shepherd’s huts (which were also used for animal storage). The view from the konoba across the water to Brač Island as you eat lunch is worth the price of admission.

Antun Balić at Uljara Božić in Svirče then showed us his olive oil bottling plant. He explained to us the difference between Extra Virgin and Virgin Oil (the percentage of oxygen in the oil), cold and warm pressing, when the olives should be picked and the different olive varieties. Antun also told us that good oil has a green grass/apple bouquet and an astringent aftertaste at the back of the throat.

The last stop of the day before the evening ferry was the Tomić Winery. Andro Tomić is the man to see about Hvar wine. Not only are his wines top-notch but the overall presentation of everything he does, from his labels to his cellars, is excellent. Marina, his right-hand girl, ran through their 9 products, and we tasted 4 of them - the Opolo Nobile Rosé, the Plavac Mali Barrique, the Prošek Hectorović and the Travarica. Marina was even kind enough to prepare food to accompany each wine.

From Andro’s website:

Opolo Nobile - “Rosé wine Opolo Nobile is enjoyed as a young, a year-old wine. It is produced using a special technology (decantation after only 12 hours) that gives this wine a beautiful pink colour and its distinctive freshness. Opolo Nobile was modelled on young French (Beaujolais) wines, and it is best to drink it until it is 10 months old.”

As this is a light wine Marina served a mozzarella-style cheese with olive oil.

Plavac Mali Barrique - “After the Ancient Greeks and Romans who used amphorae for wine storage and transport, barrels became a widespread means of wine storing, and became crucial for maturing of wine. Barrels have a two-fold function in winemaking; they accelerate wine aging, and add a distinctive wood flavour and bouquet. Fine making and maturing in oak barrels give the wine Plavac Mali Barrique its highly noble bouquet and make a great complement to an already strong flavour of the variety Plavac Mali.”

To compliment the strength of this wine, a strong cheese such as parmesan is recommended.

Prošek Hectorović - “Prošek is an authentic Croatian dessert wine , made using dried grapes of the finest indigenous Dalmatian varieties. Although it often gets mixed up with Prosecco, Italian sparkling wine, Prošek comes from the coastal region of Dalmatia, which is still the only place where it is made. Prošek Hectorović was named after Petar Hektorović, a great poet, hedonist and nobleman who came from the island of Hvar.”

Marina surprised us by having us eat gorgonzola with this dessert wine - a great taste combination.

Travarica - “Travarica is a type of herbal brandy made with the wine distillate from authentic wines of the island Hvar, flavoured with seven Mediterranean herbs, predominantly carob and sage. A part of the herbs is distilled together with the wine, but most of it is left to macerate in the distillate.”

Carob is used as fake-chocolate, and the best way we discovered to enjoy this brandy is poured over chocolate ice-cream.

As we were running late for the ferry we didn’t get a chance to visit Hvar Town, but given what we had done there were no complaints!

The rest of the tour’s pictures can be found here.

While Dalmatia’s traditional boats allowed for the movement of goods and people on the water, on the other side of the Dinaric Alps four-legged transport was used. Donkeys were used for the heavy work, such as lifting the grapes, while horses did the rest.

An event called the Alka is held in Sinj in August each year. This horsemanship challenge commemorates a victory over the Turks in 1715, but, unfortunately though interesting, it has become closely tied to Croatian nationalism.

Our friend Ivo has 50 horses not far from Split. He offers one day tours of the local hills, or a 7-day camping horseback expedition around the Plitvice Lakes National Park. Those interested should contact us at Lifejacket Adventures.

On Wednesday, to begin our short sojourn on Vis and Biševo Islands, Tracey, Marisa, Andreas, Bob, Tim and I boarded the Jadrolinija ferry, followed by the local bus to Komiža. Due to the heat and Tracey being 5 months pregnant with Bob, we decided against an afternoon hike and instead went for a swim in Stončica Bay. The season has been a little slow on the islands this year, but this week the crowds finally arrived, crowding the beach.

For the evening meal Oliver Roki transported us from the beach to his family vineyard, where we dined on lamb and fish cooked ispod peke - under the cast iron dome. The food and hospitality on the Roki’s terrace is always first rate. I am a little concerned, though, that their plavac mali (local red wine) always has a fennel aftertaste.

The weather was perfect the next day for a paddle across to visit our friends Davor and Lili in Salbunara Bay on Biševo Island. Its always a joy to arrive in Salbunara Bay; a deep, sandy bay that Davor and Lili have gone to great lengths to keep clean.

For lunch they had prepared a traditional sardine dish, where fried sardines are marinated in onions, garlic, white wine, wine vinegar, olive oil, rosemary, bay leaves and lemon. This recipe was used to preserve fish for several days before electricity and refrigerators, and now fish prepared this way can stay in the ‘fridge for up to 3 weeks. When the weather is hot, it is a refreshing alternative to a cooked meal.

After gorging ourselves we kayaked around to the Blue Cave, where Marisa transformed into Kim Vanderbilt Madonna impersonator and gave us a performance.

Dinner was octopus slow baked under Davor’s dome, washed down by local grappas and plenty of domestic wine.

On Friday, after a night in the bungalows, we attempted to cross back to Vis Island. Unfortunately the jugo was building and we weren’t able to make it. Instead, Pino had to come with his boat to ferry us back to Komiža. From there it was back to Split and civilization!

For all the pictures from tour click here.