Cross-border collaboration healing history

My latest in The Drinks Business:

Can a cross-border collaboration heal history in the north Adriatic?

by L.M. Archer

Vineyard neighbours in north Adriatic’s Brda and Collio regions are taking part in an initiative that may go some way to mending divisions inflicted during World War Two.

In 1947, World War Two allied forces cleaved apart a historic winegrowing region in the northeastern region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. On one side, Collio hewed to free-market Italy. On the other, Brda fell to communist Yugoslavia (present-day Slovenia).

Historically, the Austro-Hungarian empire governed the once-unified region for centuries. Then with the stroke of a pen, the arbitrary boundary forced families and neighbours apart, giving some just hours to vacate homes passed down through generations.

Displaced communities

Joško Sirk and his family were among the displaced, relocating to the town of Cormons, in the Italian province of Gorizia. There, Sirk’s father founded an osteria (small restaurant), La Subida.

At age 17, Sirk inherited La Subida from his father. Over time, he and wife Loredana transformed the simple community eatery into an internationally renown Michelin-star restaurant and inn, now run by their children.

“The Austrian-Hungarian empire was a good stepmom,” notes Sirk, a former freelance journalist. “All of us together [here] have a life around fruit, vegetables, and wine.”

However, Sirk’s childhood displacement left an unhealed wound. One day in 2021, two bright yellow benches caught Sirk’s attention on his neighbour Stojan Ščurek’s wine estate. Shaped like windows, the benches framed the area’s stunning landscape. Their colour also matched that of Collio’s trademark logo.

To Sirk, the benches offered a unique promotional opportunity for the area at the upcoming Giro d’Italia bike race. They also offered a unique ‘window’ into uniting land and people.

“In reality, it was Ščurek who invented and assembled the first two benches,” Sirk explains. “I liked them, and went to him to ask if I could have two for Subida? He was very helpful, saying that he had nothing against me having two for Subida, nor if I wanted to spread them in the Collio/Brda area.” READ MORE HERE.

I’m delighted to share this link to my recent article in The Drinks Business about cross-border collaboration in the North Adriatic wine regions of Collio and Brda.

Find more of my work here.