Winemaking in Croatia goes back at least to the Greeks with one vineyard on the Island of Hvar, thought to be the oldest continuously cultivated vineyard in the world, dating to the fourth century BCE. Viticulture continued to flourish under the Romans, the Ottomans and the Hapsburgs and it wasn’t until the twin calamities of phylloxera and communism that Croatian wine disappeared from the world stage. With Croatian independence declared in 1991 and the war with Serbia and its aftermath occupying the country through the 90s, the country of 4.1 million has staged a remarkable comeback since then, with around five times that number of tourists visiting in 2023. Ernest Tolj found success in wire and cable manufacturing, but his family’s tradition of making wine for their own consumption offered him a new challenge and 18 years later he now owns vineyards and wineries along the whole coast. Plavac Mali is the child of Zinfandel/Crljenak Kaštelanski/Tribidrag and an obscure Croatian grape called Dobričić and is now by far the most planted indigenous red grape. This wine is a blend of Plavac Mali (PLAH-vots MALL-y) from two vineyards, one in Dingač (DING-gotch) on the Pelješać (PELL-yuh-shots) Peninsula, the most well known and oldest appellation in Croatia, and one in Komarna, a very recently developed appellation on the Dalmatian Coast that looks directly south onto the Pelješać Peninsula. Dingač wines are always Plavac Mali and are known for their black fruited power and intensity while the Plavac from Komarna is fresh, red fruited and less tannic. Matured partially in large wooden vats, partially in concrete, and partially in barriques for 24 months, the wine offers flavors of figs, dried morello cherries, ripe strawberries, Earl Grey tea and forest floor with velvety tannins. As it would seem to marry the influence of the Greeks, Italians and the Turks, a pastitsio would be a perfect pairing.