Evocative island whites—those bottles that conjure images of seaside towns and salty breezes with a single sip—are a category we’ll go to the ends of the earth to find. Deeply mineral Assyrtiko from Santorini and buoyant Vermentino from Corsica are now (almost) household names, and it’s high time Pošip (“poe-ship”) from the Croatian island of Korčula (core-chula) joins the fold.

We’ve done our part, that’s for sure: This incredible value has made repeated appearances here on SommSelect, and when it comes to stretching your wine dollar to the absolute maximum, it has few peers. It is not only structured and uncommonly delicious but has a backstory that is nothing short of heroic: Korčula, toward the southern end of Croatia’s long sliver of Adriatic coastline, is now considered a “budding” wine region, closely watched and fawned over by sommeliers the world over. The truth, of course, is that its winemaking tradition stretches back to Greek antiquity, but decades under Communism and a series of brutal wars in the 1990s made sure these special wines never left the country. One of the only upsides to this situation, however, is that the wine scene has been largely untouched by the forces of the global wine market. Thus grapes like our beloved Pošip were able to survive the threat of replanting with more “marketable” varieties, and we now get to drink in, literally, Korčula’s unadorned coastal beauty. If you are a white wine aficionado, Croatia needs to be at the very top of your “must-try” list. 

Toreta is a chief example of the Croatian wine industry’s momentum bringing old traditions into the future. The name Toreta refers to ancient stone huts for vineyard workers found on Korčula.  Owner Frano Banicević only put out his first wines in 2013 but had the guidance of his great-grandfather’s voluminous notes on viticulture and winemaking. He is fiercely committed to the exotically aromatic, slightly briny Pošip, the variety most intertwined with Korčula’s history. You’ll find other Croatian mainstays like Plavac Mali on the island, but this is where Pošip was first discovered. Windswept and covered with Mediterranean herbs and pines, the island was once blanketed in vineyards, but phylloxera knocked that back to the current total of only 450 hectares. Frano tends to just five hectares himself, and in this rugged area, where humidity can be a problem, he prefers sites overlooking the Adriatic—where they are in the path of sometimes-harsh winds blowing in from the Adriatic Sea. 

As I mentioned above, we’ve fallen hard for the Toreta’s Pošip “Premium,” which you might think of as the Pošip “Special’s” bigger brother. Whereas the Premium is lightly oaked and leans into the variety’s headier, more aromatic side, the Special puts Pošip’s leaner, crisper, more coastal proclivities on full display. I detected some of the peachy fruit and oyster shell interplay often found in my favorite Galician whites, commingling with a coastal Italian white’s saline minerality. Bone-dry German Riesling might not even be a bad comparison, given Pošip Special’s stone fruit core and fine, linear texture. Energy, tension, perfume, and minerality—basically everything I could possibly want in a white wine at just $26!

The “Special” 2020 was given a brief, two-hour maceration before fermenting at cool temperatures in stainless steel. Frano’s goal here is freshness, and he succeeds in spades. In the glass, the wine is a pale straw with flecks of green and silver; high-toned aromas of underripe white peach, white flowers, pear skin, and a hint of sea spray immediately announce its origins. The texture is lean and racy, imbued with a thirst-quenching acidity, in all an incredible feat given Pošip’s propensity for accumulating high potential alcohol. The crunchy, tart white fruit continues on the palate, reinforced by an electric Maldon sea salt snap. This begs to be drunk young, quickly, and in large quantities. Pop and pour, serve at 45-50 degrees in all-purpose stems, and pair with just about anything with shrimp, capers, or fennel in it, and you’ll swear you have a little Adriatic island all to yourself.