2019 Toreta Pošip Special

Region: Smokvica < Korčula < Croatia

Grape: Pošip

Vineyard/Cellar Stats: uncertified organic farming; red iron rich soils; short maceration (~2 hours), fermented entirely in stainless steel, and then aged 3 months in stainless stee;l bottled unfined/unfiltered with minimal So2; 11.5% ABV

Winemaker: Frano Banicevic

Let's take a virtual vacay to the Croatian islands: if you drive out to the end of the Pelješac Peninsula on the Dalmatian Coast, you can take short ferry ride to the island of Korčula. Lush with pine forests and Mediterranean herbs, this dreamy island has relied on wine to drive it's economy since before the Greeks.  For roughly 400 years up until the early 1800’s, Korčula was a part of the Venetian Empire. The architecture and food still harken back to that era. There is even a stone statue with inscriptions for regulating the production of wine from 1407. We want to go there now!  But since that's not so easy these days, let's drink the wine and transport....

The Toreta story begins with Frano Banicević’s great grandfather, who not only founded the winery, but dutifully wrote down everything about winemaking and working in the vineyard as well. Today, Frano is picking up where his great grandfather left off to make authentic wine from the local Pošip grape, which was born and bred on the Island of Korčula.  This 'Special' bottling is his earliest pick from the youngest vineyards. It is an impossibly light and fresh Pošip, considering the grape is capable of reaching very high sugar levels. Being able to coax out ripe flavors without the heat and weight is a testament to Frano’s winemaking. We love that its super aromatic in a sea breeze/herbal/piney way rather than floral sense, the acidity is super refreshing and there’s plenty of fruit to round things out.

As the lobster on the label indicates, this wine is ideal to drink with just about anything pulled from the sea. Locals pair it with shrimp and tomato pasta, grilled eggplant with capers and creamy pastas with wild fennel. As with all of Frano’s wines it is defined by the elemental combination of Mediterranean herbs, thick pine forest, sunshine and sea breeze.  Pošip Special, take me away....