The Croatian Island of Hvar, in the middle of Dalmatia, looks like an extremely beautiful place. It has a long history of winemaking, including the ‘Chora Pharou’ vineyards subdivided by the original Greek stone walls into plots 900 by 180 metres. This is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The Carić family have been grape growers here for generations, but since the establishment of the Vino-Hvar DOO (appellation), they’ve started making their own wines from their 5 hectares of vineyard plots, spread across the island, in addition to using some bought-in grapes. They are farmers floating on paradise.

The grape varieties here are interesting, including the local Pošip, from Korcula island which makes an intense, aromatic white wine, and Croatia’s indigenous red grape star Plavac Mali, which counts Crljenak (Zinfandel) as one of its parents. These indigenous varieties to HVAR are beautiful - Bogdanuša, Pošip, Maraština, Prč and Muškat Žuti. Recently the winery has been turning heads with a white wine blend called ‘Cesarica’ which has won the best white blend on the island.

Ivana Krstulović Carić is the president of the grower’s association on HVAR. There are now 17 members and she is and underdog we welcome to the portfolio!