Our Story

Bardo wines was established by Brdo-Dolina d.o.o. a Croatian company with African origins, in a desire by the owner to reconnect with his European origins.

 

While working in Central Europe, the owner spent 12 years searching for the ‘perfect place near the sea’ in Croatia, and found it on Vis, where it was love at first sight when he saw the secluded little coastal valley of Vagonj in 2007.

 

This ‘perfect place’ was overgrown with bush and Aleppo pines and had not been worked fully for around 60 years.

As work proceeded to clear the bush over the next two years, the mysteries of the land revealed themselves, such as old stone huts, stone stairways, mule paths, an ancient well and even a Cold World War era stone bunker.

 

Walking through the terraces shows they were built by hand, mostly over the last 150 years. The big stone heaps (gomile) are dotted around the land, visible evidence of the massive task the islanders put into clearing millions of rocks to find a little top soil for their crops.

The land is in effect a monument to the pioneers of the winemaking efforts over the last century and a half.

 

Respect for those who came before, is a big factor at Bardo wines, which is why a special effort is made to protect the terraces (pristave) and other structures; and also why Bardo planted the island’s unique but modest white wine cultivar Vugava, instead of other, more prolific cultivars.

 

 This is also the reason for choosing the brand name “Bardo”, meaning hill in the dialect of Vis. The symbolic connection is that it’s always up’hill’ work to create the best wines possible.