From Stone to Vine: A Brač Vineyard Story

Documenting the soul of Dalmatian viticulture as a new vineyard takes shape on the slopes of Brač. A photographic journal of the land, the people and the seasons that will shape its first vintage.

🇬🇧 EN: Next stage: The draining and pressing of the red grapes. Once the tanks have done their work, maceration is stopped and the wine is drained off by gravity, separated from the pomace - the leftover skins, seeds and solids. What runs free is called, fittingly, "free-run wine."

The pomace doesn't go to waste. First, it gets pulled from the tank and pressed, squeezing out what's left — the "press wine." Darker, more tannic, more structure. (The residue can then be used to make rakija at a later stage). Depending on the style they're after, the two get blended, either straightaway or later once they've aged a bit.

From here, a second fermentation kicks in — malolactic — which softens the acidity naturally.

Emptying the tanks is hard work, especially at the end when someone has to climb inside. Messy - yes, but there's something satisfying about seeing the process stripped back like this.

🇭🇷 HR:

🇩🇪 DE:

🇬🇧 EN: With practically no rain for almost four months, and temperatures well above 30°C, it was time to harvest the red grapes. To make things harder still, the island was cloaked in smoke from the forest fires burning on the mainland. Working from the top of the vineyard, the team filled the crates. Once harvested, the grapes went straight onto the truck and were driven directly to the winery, where they're now crushed and left to ferment before pressing.

🇭🇷 HR: Gotovo četiri mjeseca bez kiše i s temperaturama znatno iznad 30°C, bilo je vrijeme za berbu grožđa grenache. Da stvar bude još teža, otok je bio obavijen dimom od nekoliko požara na kopnu. Brajući grožđe od vrha do dna vinograda, tim je punio gajbe, koje su utovarene na kamion i odvezene izravno u vinariju, gdje su drobljene i ostavljene da fermentiraju prije prešanja.

🇩🇪 DE: Nach fast vier Monaten ohne Regen und Temperaturen deutlich über 30 °C war es Zeit für die Rotweinlese. Erschwerend kam hinzu, dass die Insel vom Rauch der Waldbrände auf dem Festland eingehüllt war. Vom oberen Ende des Weinbergs aus füllte das Team die Kisten. Nach der Lese wurden die Trauben direkt auf den LKW verladen und zur Weinkellerei gebracht, wo sie nun gequetscht werden und vor dem Pressen gären.

🇬🇧 EN: The last rains fell on the 12th of July, and with daily average temperatures sitting in the mid-30s ever since, the grapes have ripened ahead of schedule. Today the team was out picking the Vermentino, a white grape variety — working through scorching midday sun with little shade to speak of. Once harvested, the grapes were loaded straight onto the truck and driven directly to the winery, where they were de-stemmed and pressed immediately to lock in maximum freshness.

🇭🇷 HR: Posljednje kiše su pale 12. srpnja. S prosječnim dnevnim temperaturama od tada oko 30 stupnjeva Celzijusa, grožđe je sazrelo prije roka.Radeći po žarkom podnevnom suncu s malo hlada, danas je ekipa brala Vermentino, bijelu sortu grožđa Nakon berbe, grožđe je utovareno u kamion i odvezeno izravno u vinariju, gdje je odmah očišćeno od peteljki te prešano kako bi se sačuvala maksimalna svježina.

🇩🇪 DE: Die letzten Regenfälle fielen am 12. Juli; da die durchschnittlichen Tagestemperaturen seither im Bereich von etwa 35 °C liegen, sind die Trauben früher als geplant gereift. Heute erntete das Team die weiße Rebsorte Vermentino – und das in der sengenden Mittagssonne, bei kaum vorhandenem Schatten. Nach der Lese wurden die Trauben direkt auf den Lkw verladen und unverzüglich zum Weingut gebracht, wo sie sofort entrappt und gepresst wurden, um ein Höchstmaß an Frische zu bewahren.

🇬🇧 EN: It's mid July and no significant rain has fallen for 8 weeks, since the 16th May. Whilst the vineyards are dusty and dry, the new vines were in need of some water. So, with the help of the local fire truck, the sprinklers were laid out and the vines given a much needed drink.

As is always the case, the next morning we woke to thunder and torrential rain.

🇭🇷 HR: Sredina je srpnja i već 8 tjedana, od 16. svibnja, nije pala značajnija kiša. Iako su vinogradi prašnjavi i suhi, novim lozama je trebalo malo vode. Stoga su, uz pomoć lokalnog vatrogasnog vozila, postavljeni prskalice i loze su dobile toliko potrebnu vodu.

Kao i uvijek, sljedećeg jutra probudili su nas grmljavina i prolomna kiša.

🇩🇪 DE: Es ist Mitte Juli, und seit dem 16. Mai, also seit acht Wochen, hat es nicht mehr nennenswert geregnet. Die Weinberge sind staubig und trocken, doch die jungen Reben brauchten dringend Wasser. Mithilfe der örtlichen Feuerwehr wurden daher die Sprinkleranlagen aufgestellt und die Reben mit dem dringend benötigten Wasser versorgt.

Wie immer wurden wir am nächsten Morgen von Donner und sintflutartigem Regen geweckt.

🇬🇧 EN: After 24mm of rain had fallen the day before, it was a surprisingly chilly May morning and there was another important job to do in the vineyard;

Rose planting. 

Two different varieties, planted every second row. Thankfully after the rain the ground was easy to dig and the team made quick progress. Once again, Robi patiently explained to me that the roses were planted so that any diseases that could harm the vines would show up on the roses first. This would act as an early warning sign, allowing the team time to treat the vines.

If there are no diseases, then they will have nice looking roses in the vineyard to attract pollinating insects. 

Even one of the local cats, Chappie came along to help.

🇭🇷 HR: Nakon što je dan prije palo 24 mm kiše, bilo je iznenađujuće hladno svibanjsko jutro i u vinogradu je trebalo obaviti još jedan važan posao:

Sadnja ruža.

Dvije različite sorte, posađene u svakom drugom redu.Srećom, nakon kiše zemlja se lako mogla kopati i radni tim je brzo napredovao. Robi je još jednom strpljivo objasnio da se ruže sade zato što će se sve bolesti koje bi mogle naštetiti vinovoj lozi prvo pojaviti na ružama. To bi bio rani upozoravajući znak, što bi omogućilo timu da na vrijeme tretira vinovu lozu. Ako nema bolesti, onda će u vinogradu imati lijepe ruže koje će privlačiti insekte oprašivače.

Čak je i domaća mačka Chappie došla pomoći.

🇩🇪 DE: Nach 24 mm Regen am Vortag war es ein überraschend kühler Maimorgen, und im Weinberg stand eine weitere wichtige Aufgabe an:

Rosen pflanzen.

In jeder zweiten Reihe wurden zwei verschiedene Sorten gepflanzt. Zum Glück ließ sich der Boden nach dem Regen gut bearbeiten, und das Team kam gut voran. Robi erklärte geduldig, dass die Rosen so gepflanzt wurden, dass Krankheiten, die den Reben schaden könnten, zuerst an den Rosen auftreten würden. Dies diene als Frühwarnsystem und gebe dem Team Zeit, die Reben zu behandeln. Wenn keine Krankheiten aufträten, würden sie wunderschöne Rosen im Weinberg haben, die bestäubende Insekten anlocken würden.

Sogar eine der Katzen aus der Gegend, Chappie, half mit.

🇬🇧 EN: Like a lot of things that are done well, they look easy, when in reality there's a lot that needs to go right to ensure the vines get just the right amount of coverage. The right water/fertiliser mix - keeping it all bee-friendly, the right nozzles, the right amount of air-mix, the right speed of each pass and no wind. After patiently explaining it all in layman's terms, Robi got to work.

🇩🇪 DE:  Wie viele Dinge, die gut gemacht sind, sieht es einfach aus. In Wirklichkeit muss jedoch vieles zusammenpassen, damit die Reben genau die richtige Menge an Schutz erhalten. Die richtige Wasser-Wirkstoff-Mischung – natürlich absolut bienenfreundlich –, die passende Düse, das richtige Luftgemisch, die exakte Geschwindigkeit bei jedem Durchgang und absolute Windstille. Nachdem er uns alles geduldig und verständlich erklärt hatte, machte Robi sich an die Arbeit.

🇭🇷 HR: Kao i mnoge stvari koje su dobro odrađene i ova, na prvi pogled izgleda jednostavno, ali u stvarnosti,  potrebno je puno toga uskladiti kako bi loza u pravo vrijeme dobila točno onoliko koliko joj je potrebno. Pravi omjer vode i hrane – vodeći računa o pčelama – ispravne mlaznice, pravi pritisak zraka mlaznicama, ravnomjerno prskanje prilikom  svakog prolaska te dan bez vjetra. Nakon što mi je strpljivo sve objasnio na jednostavan način, Robi se bacio na posao.

🇬🇧 EN: Documenting the growth of a vineyard is an exercise in patience, much like producing wine. Over the next few years, I hope to capture the evolution of this new endeavour—from the initial planting to harvesting and bottling. This series, titled 'The Journal,' serves as a visual record of the land, the people and the Dalmatian seasons.

🇩🇪 DE: Die Dokumentation des Wachstums eines Weinbergs ist eine Übung in Geduld, genau wie die Weinherstellung selbst. In den nächsten Jahren möchte ich die Entwicklung dieses neuen Vorhabens festhalten – von der ersten Pflanzung bis zur Ernte und Abfüllung. Diese Serie mit dem Titel „Das Journal“ dient als visuelle Chronik des Landes, der Menschen und des Wandels der dalmatinischen Jahreszeiten.

🇭🇷 HR: Dokumentiranje rasta vinograda vježba je strpljenja, slično je proizvodnji vina. Tijekom sljedećih nekoliko godina nadam se da ću uspjeti snimiti rast i razvoj ovog novog poduhvata - od početne sadnje do berbi i punjenja u boce. Ovaj dnevnik poslužit će kao vizualni zapis zemlje, ljudi i mjenu dalmatinskih godišnjih doba.