Episode 58

Dobrodošli, dragi prijatelji!

For all of the wine connoisseur out there, we have a special episode for you.

The grapes are ready for vino, so let’s learn some words relating to picking grapes and making wine!

Salut!

Lesson - Grape Harvest

grapes - grožđe

vine - vinova loza

tearing grapes off the vine - trgati

barrel - bačva

sugar - cukar

red and white wine - crno i bijelo vino

red wine vinegar - vincki ocat/ kvasina

moonshine - rakija

DJ Moe sticks with the wine theme in this episode’s SSR.

He’ll  tell us about the super special Grk Vino only produced on the island of Korčula. Fancy!

Hello my Suoer Slatko preitelji!

This style of wine is called Grk!

Sometimes called Grk - Bijeli.

Grk is an indigenous Croatian white wine, grown almost exclusively on the southern island of Korčula, specifically on the sandy and very dry soils around the village of Lumbarda at the easternmost tip of the island. The strip of land between two coastlines is very narrow there, so the grapes get a lot of sunlight and reflection off the sea, so the grapes tend to have very high sugars along with excellent acids.

(That was a passage I borrowed from an article i found on Total Croatia Wine dot com.)

There has been a lot of speculation about the origins of this grape, most noting the connections to the Greeks who settled parts of the region centuries earlier, but that can’t be known for sure. The most notable connection being the name Grk and it’s similarities to the word Greek. But the similarities end there as genetic testing has not yielded evidence connecting this grape to any Greek grape varieties. 

But One thing that is confirmed making the white Grk grape so interesting is that it only produces female flowers and cannot fruit on its own. Because of this the Grk grape needs to be planted along side a male grape, in this case the Plavac Mali varietal. A grape that is found in some wine styles found around the world that you probably know, such as Zinfandel and Primitivo styles. With the help of the Plavac Mali, the Grk can inturn pollinate and produce the grapes needed to make the wine.

The wine is usually produced in September. With a bulk of the grapes being grown in a town called Lumbarda as mentioned from the article earlier. This is Where the soil is almost sandy yet suitable for growing the Grk grape vines. But One thing about the Grk wine  that is Unfortunate is that not a lot of Grk can be produced, since this is the only place it grows and since the island is only so big, there’s not enough space to cultivate, mass produce and ship this wine world wide. Some estimates show that there’s only 40 acres of Grk  grapes growing in an average year on the island. 

That being said, how do you get some for yourself?

You can go online! I found a couple sites that will sell it to you and ship it to you. You’re just not going to find it in your local grocery store and maybe not even your local wine shop unless they cater to a Croatian clientele. 

Or you can purchase and bring the bottles back with you at your own risk of damage.

What does it taste like?

Trained refined pallets online classify it as high acidity, moderately aromatic, with a hint of pine and saltiness. Regardless these grapes produce a very tasty wine and in a lot of people’s opinions is worth the precarious packing for transportation 1/2 way around the world.

Hopefully one day you get to try Grk for yourself, and tell us what you think it tastes like.

That’s it for my super slatko report, chevili!