Prvi Poljubac – Memories of a First Kiss

While in Dalmatia, especially on the islands, you will run into a dessert wine called Prošek. For a while its brand had been compromised by poor legislation that allowed certain companies to produce “sugar water” and call it Prošek. On the flip side Italy and the EU now have a bright idea of banning the name “Prošek”. Excellent, there is no such thing as bad publicity.

So anyway, Prošek is supposed to be a very sweet desert wine made from grape varietals such as Maraština, Bogdanuša, Prč, and Kuč. Grapes are picked then put on mats and dried in the hot Dalmatian sun (it can get silly hot sometimes). A little bit of squeezing the syrup and fun with fermentation and we have a winner.

Prošek, when done right, is a high alcohol, high sugar content miracle that you should try even if you are not a fan of the sweets (like me).

Prvi Poljubac (The First Kiss) is a half-bottle sized orgasm. Sorry blogging puritans, ill wash down my keyboard with holy water later. But it’s true, this Prošek, produced by Ivo Duboković, is loaded with aromas of caramel, coffee, dried apricots….list goes on and on…funny story, once after a bottle of Prvi Poljubac I went to a rock concert and drank a lot of hard stuff you usually drink there (hint: bikers are not fans of Beaujolais), got hammered, then woke up next morning still feeling only the aromas of Prvi Poljubac, nicest hangover ever….

Anyhow, Ivo has a gem and people better take notice. Try to book a tasting at his winery, or find a specialty shop and find this; take it home, open it on your anniversary by the fire and then you can thank me.

You’re welcome.