Winds blew from every direction, and the sky would suddenly break loose drenching this parched island in sheets of water. We ran passed the swelling port and hopped over the boards at the threshold of the door, (designed to keep out the storm surge) into an old "konobo" that houses the wine store and tasting room of Vina Carić (http://vinohvar.hr) in the town of Vrbanj, Hvar.
We enjoy wine, but I can't say we are sophisticated wine connoisseurs (I may have once drank a half glass of a skunked wine commenting on what an "unusual" taste it had). What I love however is a story, a passion, and when science mixes with art, and that is precisely what we found at Vina Carić.
Ivana, our guide through a wine and chocolate pairing at Vina Caric said: "we travel not only to see new places but to learn new stories." I couldn't agree more and through her stories she made this unknown adventure of wine tastings and parings into a warm and inviting process. She told us of her husband, his love for wine and cooking, their adventures of winemaking, and of becoming known around the world. She talked about the grapes, the hills, the barrels, and the vineyards. She shared the stories of the Romans, the Greeks, of pests and draughts, of struggles and successes. She spoke of creativity, and war, and communism and individuality. But more than anything, spoke about the importance of a story told by wine and about wine; how a story has to be interesting, yet simple enough to be relatable to be shared time and time again.
She shared her stories through her words, but also through her wines. Through these wines, she allowed the grapes to share their own stories about the weather, soil, and fermentation. The wines spoke of how they were loved, cared for and protected as they aged bringing out their best natural qualities.
We pretended we knew what we were doing. I learned about "legs" of wine and what this says about the viscosity of a liquid with similarly colored molybdenum compounds as an inorganic chemistry major, but that never really helped me know "good wine." We watched youtube videos of smells and describing tastes, but what I learned from Ivana was that I had been missing the story of wine, and that is where the magic lay.
The way she set up the tasting, she allowed us to compare the wines directly, to almost speak to each other. There were two wines, both from 2011, the same grape, the famous Hvar Plavac Mali, from the same fields but one was aged in oak, the other was not. Everything else about these wines was identical. It was fascinating to be able to compare them directly; their taste, color, smell and be able to see and feel the influence the "home" of the fermentation process had on the wine.
I was utterly entranced, and the "blue" label PLOVAC PLOŠKI was simply the best wine I can remember tasting.
It made me think a lot about our children and nature vs. nurture. These wines were like identical twins separated and exposed to different homes, and it inherently changed them. Not like a cloak, or a finish, it changed the basic structure of the wine into something new, yet still holding on to its original self and its origins. The stories these wines told made me wonder how this year will change our children, how slowly, like oak seeping into wine, this year will transform them in ways I cannot yet see or predict.
Like the winemaker, we struggle to understand the influences of our actions and those of the environment. We merely seek to bring out the most vibrant qualities in each of our children but know they are inherently their own people and so many factors outside of our control will shape and mold them. We are grateful for this larger world village that is helping to raise them, and like the winemaker, it is through stories we better understand where we come from and how we are being transformed.
“Wine is bottled poetry”
The girls loved the chocolates. Each chocolate was filled with a different Mediterranean herb and paired with a different wine.
Savoring the last sips of this beautiful wine.
After hours of wine, and talking and sharing little one transformed the half eaten chocolate board into her own canvas for expression.