Vinas Mora

After the success of his first winery, Podrum Franjo, Kreso Petrekovic is bringing to life his second project called Vinas Mora. This cooperative winery focuses on the production of natural wines from Primošten, a historic and UNESCO-protected area on the Croatian coast near the city of Split.

Kreso is passionate about the region, its unique terroir and the Babić grape variety, and always advocates the enjoyment of wines produced by local farmers who have little or no commercial success. Thus, a few years ago he came across the couple Josipa and Neno Marinov, who cultivate the autochthonous grape variety Babić. The couple sold the wines in plastic bottles on the side of the road.

Together with Neno, they discovered the almost abandoned winery of a local cooperative. At this location, most of the winemakers:inside the area sold their grapes. The opportunity to take over the cooperative was too good to miss, and it was also necessary to keep the tradition alive.

The name of the winery is a Croatian wordplay and means "wines from the sea" due to the proximity of the vineyard to the Adriatic Sea. Most of the winegrowers involved farm vineyards just a few meters above sea level, where the Babić vines literally grow into the rocks. However, the previously rocky, difficult-to-access terrain has been transformed into agricultural land by extreme human effort, clearing it by hand. Dry stone walls separate the tiny plots of land, each with only three or four plants, making cultivation and harvesting extremely difficult, not to mention the impossibility of using machinery.

The primary soil, crvenica (better known as terra rosa), formed by the dissolution of limestone and dolomite, is hard and dense with very little humus. However, the clay content allows it to absorb and hold water long enough to keep the vines hydrated during the long, hot and dry Mediterranean summers.

The winery is a testament to the Babić grape variety, but Vinas Mora also makes wines from other local grape varieties, both red and white. White wines include Debit and Marastina, while red wines include Plavina and Lasin. While Vinas Mora's first wines include these varieties and the young Babić vines, in the coming years the high quality cru wines will make their debut on the market.

To avoid over-extraction, 50% of the wine in the Andreis is macerated for only one day, the second part is fermented for 4 days, followed by ageing in used 500 litre barrels. In the Kaamen II, which comes from a top vineyard of old bush vines, maceration lasts a total of 4-5 days.

The winery is a testament to the Babić grape variety, but Vinas Mora also makes wines from other local grape varieties, both red and white. White wines include Debit and Marastina, while red wines include Plavina and Lasin. While Vinas Mora's first wines include these varieties and the young Babić vines, the high-quality cru wines will make their debut on the market in the coming years.