Specials & Shipping

Greetings from our home in Croatia, where every day we wake up to the view across the bay of Pelješac, the peninsula known for Plavac Mali. There are more than 50 commercial wineries on the peninsula (not even including the garage ones). Croatia’s first certified appellations were established there. In light of the upcoming International Plavac Mali Day on Sept. 21 (check out our FB and IG social media campaign @CroatianPremiumWine), we recently visited some of these wineries, and here is some background and our take on their Plavac Mali wines. Offered with a discount of 15%.

The three specific Pelješac appellations are Dingač, Postup and Ponikve — all notable examples of “extreme vineyards” on steep slopes. Dingač, overlooking the Adriatic, was the first one to be established in 1961, with the restriction that the only wine that can state Dingač on its label is a 100% Plavac Mali from that appellation. Postup, just one mile north, also overlooks the Adriatic and Ponikve is in the interior of the peninsula. All are at various altitudes and all face south-southwest.

On the steep slopes of these appellations, the vines and the people struggle throughout the year. On Dingač and Postup, the vines struggle to survive the hot sun with an insolation trifecta — sun to grapes, sun to limestone soil to grapes, sun to sea to grapes – and Ponkive, further inland, receives almost as much heat and sun. The vines are typically grown in bush style to protect the clusters. The people working on the slopes that have up to 60% incline are challenged even in the Spring, never mind in the intense heat of harvest time. On some of slopes they have to tie the basket to themselves, so as not to lose it sliding all the way down to the sea.

Here are the offerings from these wineries, including the Plavac Mali wines that we are featuring this week:

Chateau Mario – are wines produced by Mario Sehic, the well-known sommelier/wine tour guide of Dubrovnik Wine Tours, where he does a twist on Plavac Mali by adding a touch of white wine to give it an interesting touch of crispness. While the only red grape in these wines is from the Dingač appellation, the addition of 10% white means he cannot put Dingač on the label. Despite that, the wine tastes like a modern Dingač. If you are in Croatia, look him up on TripAdvisor to go oyster and wine tasting.

Korta Katarina Winery and Hotel – we visited this Relais & Châteaux member hotel and winery while they were harvesting. What a great smell in the cellar, never mind the pleasure of tasting with Ante Cibilić, winemaker – straight from the barrels as the wine ferments. This winery is known to combine grapes from both the Dingač and Postup appellations in their red and rose wines. Did you read about them in the August issue of Decanter? Both the hotel and the winery are a word-class destination, and we just enjoyed tasting their full lineup of wines, including the featured Rueben’s Reserve and regular Plavac Mali, on their magnificent newly expanded terrace overlooking Korčula.

Marlais Winery – a small family winery near Ston with vineyards in Ponikve, a newly certified appellation. The taste of Ponikve comes out very strongly in their Škrapa wine as well as in their standard Plavac Mali. The word “škrapa” means rocky terrain – the vines struggle on the steep slopes, producing great wine.

Matuško Winery – as Mato recently said, “Dingač is a hill” – the implication being that it is not a variety of grape or wine as many people mistakenly use it – it is a place.  You have asked us about his Dingač and we now carry both the top Reserve and Royal – phenomenal examples of the traditional style of Dingač Plavac Mali. It is aged in oak for a long time, so it is not surprising that our new vintages start in 2012.

Violić Jurica Winery – vineyards also in the Dingač appellation, but this is a modern wine, best described by Daniela Kramarić, Croatian sommelier: “The thick ink-colored wine with purple reflections unfolds a true explosion of scents. The smells of sea and garden sage reveal the terroir, whereas the plum jam, blackcurrant and blackberry point to the variety. This is the wine of meditation, and it doesn’t need food to be enjoyed.”

Our default shipping method is UPS Ground or FedEx Ground to most states from our warehouse and fulfillment center in Windsor, California. Orders are typically fulfilled 1-2 business days following the placement of the order, and take 2-7 business days to be delivered, depending on the shipping distance from our fulfillment warehouse in Windsor, California, and whether or not temperature-controlled shipping is used. Currently we are utilizing a “Best Way” approach to choose UPS or FedEx for each shipment based on specific circumstances existing at the time and location.

We offer 2nd Day Air and Next Day Air as options in some regions for more rapid delivery (check the shipping options dropdown menu when checking out). Extra charges apply.

The list of states to which we ship changes frequently as individual states update their regulations. We currently do NOT ship to the following states:

• Alaska
• Hawaii
• Mississippi
• Utah

Some states have recently changed their regulations which prevent us from shipping directly ourselves to these states. For these states, we use a third party shipper, who picks up order once a week on Thursday. This can add up to a week of shipping time. Currently these states are:

• Alabama
• Kansas
• Illinois
• Ohio
• Tennessee

Due to hot summer weather, Temperature Control protocols have been put into place. For western states, ice packs will be added, which typically are good for 3 days. For central and eastern states, the warehouse uses its own refrigerated trucks to transport the shipments to regional hubs in Texas, Missouri, Georgia and New York.

These trucks leave the warehouse in CA on Fridays – the order cutoff date is Thursday noon PDT. Once they arrive at a regional hub, they get an ice pack and are handed over to the local carrier (usually FedEx or UPS) for “last mile” delivery. The local carrier scans in the label (which was printed and attached when the warehouse packed the order in CA), and tracking information is then activated. Tracking information is not available until during the cross-country trip. Note that this will add up to a week of shipping time.