Home to Grožnjan

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”

Lao Tzu

Back to Boogie Lab for breakfast.

We have slept in. By the time we finish breakfast, it is time to leave for Grožnjan.

We take a slow drive to Grožnjan, and Shell detours to Benvenuti Winery.

I have seen Malvasia around, but it doesn’t enjoy the popularity it deserves. It is an outstanding early drinking summer wine, but when it is aged in oak, it can be as complex and textured as any white.

Teran, on the other hand, is rarely seen outside of Croatia. When wine enthusiasts ‘discover’ this variety it might be the next big thing. Teran is an excellent blending wine for a cuvee, offering structure and tannin profile. AT its best, from old, high altitude vineyards, it is a brilliant, complex, age worthy red.

The Teran Livio from Benvenuti, its vineyards at 400m with dry grown 80 year old vines is a world class wine with no international demand. If this were a single vineyard Barolo or Burgundy, it would sell for $2-300. We picked it up for 20 euros.

We grabbed the Livio Malvasia, aged in French oak for 24 months. The Livio Teran I mentioned above, a cool Rosé made from young Terna vines and a Muscadel desert wine.

The tasting came with a charcuterie board made with the neighbor’s meats and cheese. Lunch gets pushed back to dinner.

Home. We put the Rosé in the freezer and grab some snacks.

We decant the Livio Teran and I cook dinner.

Afternoon shifts into the evening, and we finish the Teran and open the desert wine.

Bed.

“We seldom realize, for example that our most private thoughts and emotions are not actually our own. For we think in terms of languages and images which we did not invent, but which were given to us by our society.”

Alan Watts