From the 3rd century B.C. until our days, Lumbarda holds firmly it’s precious wines. Mainly grown from sandy soil in the hearth of the village, surrounded by the sea from north and south and exposed to more than 2700 hours of sun throughout the year (avg 7,4hrs/day), GRK (white wine) and Plavac Mali (red wine) , both embraced this unique region and it’s particular conditions. Grk, with only three letters and no vowels, pronounced as “gurk” or “gerkh” tells us simply by it’s name much about itself. Grk means bitter in Croatian, and light bitterness is present in fruitful taste of this wine. Also Grk means Greek, and ancient Greeks were first to cultivate wine in Lumbarda, many centuries ago. Still this wine is not brought from Greece. The modern DNA analysis proves that Grk is Croatian indigenous variety.
As mentioned previously, the taste of Grk wine is as distinctive as it’s name. With pronounced dry character, specific aroma with whisper of bitterness, natural acidity that comes with hints of pine, Grk wine has no close match in the region and further. Despite it’s uniqueness, Grk grape that has only female flowers can not succeed as a “stand alone” grape and needs to share it’s terroir with some other variety with male flowers to insure successful pollination. Plavac Mali probably the most famous Croatian red grape variety proved to be the perfect match.
Plavac and Grk winemakers in Lumbarda, despite all the present recognition, tend not only to preserve the best possible quality on every single vintage year, but look for constant improvement to reach the full potential of these two indigenous Croatian wines.
Following this site and it’s regularly updated the Wine News section, you will follow the status and performance of GRK , Plavac Mali and all other wines of unique terroir of Lumbarda village and it’s surroundings. Cheers!