The wine harvest in Croatia

Any time from late August on, the wine harvest in Croatia starts. A lot depends on the weather. In 2006, there was a lot of heavy rain earlier in the season, so many delayed bringing in the grapes until October.

Ivo Mileta is a wine producer on Hvar island, dedicated to producing ever-finer quality red and white wines in the traditional natural way. He never uses artificial chemical fertilizers or pesticides. He works alone, apart from harvest time when helping hands are drafted in. His vineyards are on both sides of the island, north and south, and the differences in micro-climate allow for different types of grapes: Ivo cultivates autochthonous old grape varieties as well as the more widely known ones.

Cultivating grapes is a laborious and precarious job. The grapes can be ruined by disease or too little or too much rain at the wrong time. If they do well, the wild boar love them. Although they don't normally eat very many, they can cause considerable damage by digging at the roots of the vines, so they're not popular. Usually scarers are set up as the grapes ripen, setting off shot-gun sounds every 15 minutes or so day and night to frighten the boar away.

These plavac grapes have been left to ferment in an open container for a week , to intensify their rich flavour and deepen the colour. The temperature has been carefully brought down to the right level by putting ice packs in the vat, and the grapes are transferred to the press.

The weight of the grapes alone produces a first flow of juice before the sides of the press are built up and the mechanical pressure put into action. This press is extremely old, but has been kept clean and smart with assiduous loving care. The dark wood used to cover the grapes for the pressing is a Dalmatian hardwood which is virtually impervious to rot, staining or infestation by insects. These boards too are very old, but have been maintained in perfect condition.Using an electric pump to transmit the wine from the press to the vat has made it possible for one man to do work which previously required three. Working the press is easy at first, but gets progressively harder.

Despite worries about the unseasonal heavy rain during the summer, the 2006 harvest was good, and the wine promises to have an excellent full flavour from the time it's ready early in 2007.

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