On October 25 and 26, the Brotherhood of the Croatian Wine Knights traveled to Imotski, a wine-growing region in southern Dalmatia, to celebrate its chapter and explore its wine resources. Together with Slovenian Vice President Janez Dežman, we accepted their invitation and brought greetings from the FICB.
On Saturday afternoon, the brotherhood paraded in costume through the streets of the town to the house of Ivan Turic, a recently deceased monk and collector whose home is soon to become a museum and which houses hundreds of historical works of art.
After the visit, the cortege proceeded to the Franciscan monastery and the Church of St. Francis of Assisi, where a mass was held, followed by the “knighting ceremony” (Viteška svečanost).
The inductions into the three different ranks of the brotherhood were carried out according to a ritual always accompanied by the traditional phrase: SLOVA BOGU ČAST VINU. (Glory to God, Honor to Wine)
For the first grade, the inductee touches the pommel of the sword and receives a small medal worn on a ribbon; for the second grade, he or she receives the flat of the sword on one shoulder and a medium-sized medal on a chain; and for the third grade, he receives the flat of the sword on each shoulder and a necklace with the knight’s medal.
In the evening, we moved to Eko Selo Grabovac for a gala dinner.
Sunday was devoted to visiting vineyards and tasting the many and varied local wines, as well as delicious olive oils in the Jerković cellars,
Katić (in the old Imota cellar, known for its mosaic from the 1970s),
and Grabovac, where a hearty and delicious buffet lunch was served.
Participants were able to explore a karst region with remarkable landscapes of lakes and hills,
and discover the “green cathedral,” a place of contemplation without a roof or walls, surrounded by nature.
Among the local grape varieties, Plavac Mali (= little blue) is particularly well suited to the Mediterranean region:
“This grape produces a very dark ruby-red wine with a well-developed bouquet and full body (tannic and often quite alcoholic). It produces the best wines on the Pelješac peninsula, on the south coast of the island of Hvar…”(read the full article on wikipedia here )
See also the article presenting the wines and vineyards of Dalmatia here.
Thanks to our friends of the Croatian Wine Knights Brotherhood, to its Grand Master Ivo Delonga,
and to Zeljko Minarski, who was our host during this brief stay and proved to be a champion at sabering!
By the way, how do you say “cheers” in Croatian? ZIVELI!
