The Nickname, the Amphora & the Novigrad Hand
Ghira Winery is the vision of Damir Mihelić — a young Istrian vigneron who rejected the commercial race of young Malvasia in favour of patient, amphora-aged, organic wine made the way his grandparents did. Located just a few hundred metres from the centre of Novigrad on the western coast of Istria, Croatia, the estate takes its name from an old family nickname from his mother's village of Bibali. Founded by his father Bruno in 1997, the winery covers a little over 3.5 hectares of vines alongside 4 hectares of olive trees and 3 hectares of fruit orchards, all farmed organically and moving toward biodynamic principles. Damir studied Landscape Management in Gorizia and oenology in Poreč before returning home in 2008 with a radical idea: to age Malvasia for years — in Tuscan terracotta amphoras and large Slavonian oak barrels — rather than rushing it to market as a fresh, young wine. The result is a portfolio of honest, soulful wines — Riquertz, Madura, Kalamita, Manera, Tortura, and Šćučá — each named with a story, each label designed by local artist Dragana Sapanjoš, and each bottle a quiet rebellion against the industrial wine machine.
The Nickname, the Grandparents & the Istrian Hand
Damir Mihelić was born into wine — not as a brand, but as a way of life. Both his maternal and paternal grandparents cultivated vines and made wine in the Novigrad area, producing around 10,000 litres annually in the 1950s "in a natural way, without electricity, tractors..." His father, Bruno Mihelić, worked as a vigneron for the local co-operative cellar before founding the family estate in 1997 and establishing the family farm (OPG) in 2003. The family built everything by hand: the house, the vineyards, the cellar. In the beginning, Bruno and his wife Marija did it all themselves because one son was studying and the other was in Italy.
Damir studied Landscape Management and Planning in Gorizia, Italy, then returned home and enrolled in oenology school in Poreč. He officially entered the family business in 2007 and took over in 2015 after his father's passing. But the pivotal moment came around 2010, when Damir and his father began renovating an old stone cellar from 1802 in Bibali — his mother's village — where the family nickname "Ghira" originated. The name came from an old man of ninety who told Damir stories about his grandfather, always mentioning "Ghira." When Damir finally asked who Ghira was, the old man replied: "That's the old family nickname." Damir wrote it on a barrel, submitted the wine to the Zagreb Wine Institute in 2013, and when they declared it excellent, the brand was born. The winery was renamed Ghira — one of the rare Istrian wineries not named after the family surname.
Damir's philosophy is as direct as his wines: "I make wine. I don't put any kind of adjective before the word. The others who want me to add an adjective — organic, bio, natural — they are producing alcoholic beverages. We have to describe what we're doing, we need certification, but they don't?" For Damir, natural wine is not a trend; it is a return to normality — to what his grandparents did before synthetic chemicals arrived in the 1960s. He is inspired by Giorgio Clai, a pioneer of Istrian natural winemaking, and has visited between 50 and 100 wineries across Europe with the same philosophy. His best marketing, he says, is to speak directly with the person who is going to open the bottle.
"I didn't enjoy the constant race against time that happens with young Malvasia. You simply don't have time to 'deal with' the wine because you know you have to get it to market as soon as possible."
— Damir Mihelić, Ghira Winery
Novigrad, the Terra Rossa & the Adriatic Hand
Novigrad (Cittanova) is a historic coastal town in northwestern Istria, Croatia — a peninsula where Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia converge on the Adriatic Sea. Once a Roman settlement and later a Venetian stronghold, Novigrad sits on a coastline of red soil, ancient stone, and maritime breeze. Ghira's vineyards lie just a few hundred metres from the town centre and a few dozen metres from the sea, on land that was cultivated for the co-operative cellar during Yugoslav times. The property spans a little over 3.5 hectares of vines, plus 4 hectares of olive trees and 3 hectares of fruit trees — cherries, figs, pears, almonds — on a total of 19 leased hectares.
The soils are the classic terra rossa of Red Istria — iron-rich red limestone that is poor in phosphorus and high in mineral content. The vineyard has two distinct zones: a higher, rockier section at around 40 metres above sea level where stones dominate and olive trees thrive; and a lower "vallata" where pure terra rossa is the protagonist. The red soil stresses the vines, forces deep rooting, and imparts a signature mineral, saline character to the wines. This is not the easy soil of the plains; it is the demanding, ancient soil of a place that has been making wine for 2,500 years — since the Greeks planted vines on the Istrian coast in the 4th century BCE.
The property operates under organic certification and is moving toward biodynamic practices. Damir uses copper and sulphur in minimal quantities, supplemented by nettle, algae, and propolis treatments. Between the vine rows, he plants facelia — a flowering plant that balances soil structure, produces excellent honey, and attracts pollinators. Fifteen beehives sit adjacent to the vineyard, and the beeswax is used to seal bottles of Madura. Damir also experiments with biodynamic preparations 500 and 501, applying them gradually and cautiously. Horses work the vineyard. The goal is not just to grow grapes but to build a living, self-sustaining farm where the vineyard is part of a larger ecosystem. For Damir, the vineyard is a place of peace — a symbiosis with the plants and the ecosystem that surrounds him.
Novigrad is a small but ancient town on the western coast of Istria, with roots stretching back to Roman times and a strong Venetian heritage. It is less famous than Rovinj or Pula, but for those who know Istrian wine, it is a place of quiet authenticity. The town's co-operative cellar dominated local viticulture during the Yugoslav era, and many families — including the Mihelićs — supplied grapes to it. When the co-operative system collapsed, private estates like Ghira emerged, reclaiming the land and the tradition. For Damir, Novigrad is not just a base; it is the soul of the project — a place where the Adriatic, the red soil, and the stone walls converge to create wines of real distinction.
The original Ghira cellar is located in Bibali — Damir's mother's village — inside a stone building dating from 1802. This underground cellar was renovated starting in 2010, and when it was reopened after 40 years of disuse, the family held a small celebration. It was here that the first Ghira wines — a 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon — were aged. The cellar is cool, dark, and quiet — a space where time moves slowly and wines are allowed to harmonize. The stone walls provide natural temperature regulation, and the subterranean location creates the perfect conditions for long ageing. This is not a modern winery; it is a restored piece of family history where a young winemaker lets the stone, the soil, and the Adriatic fog do the talking.
The soils at Ghira are the famous terra rossa of Red Istria — red, iron-rich limestone that is poor in phosphorus and high in minerality. To compensate for the phosphorus deficiency, Damir plants facelia between the rows as green manure. This flowering plant not only enriches the soil but also produces exceptional honey from the adjacent beehives. The higher, rockier parts of the vineyard are planted with olive trees, while the lower, pure terra rossa zones are reserved for vines. Stone posts discovered during land preparation — once used to support vines in centuries past — have been reinstalled, creating a visual link to the agricultural history of the place. This is not the fertile alluvium of the plains; it is the demanding, ancient soil of a winegrowing civilization.
Biodiversity is central to the Ghira philosophy. Fifteen beehives sit near the vineyard, producing honey and providing beeswax for sealing Madura bottles. Horses work the land. Facelia flowers between the rows attract pollinators and enrich the soil. Damir uses biodynamic preparations 500 and 501 experimentally, along with nettle, algae, and propolis treatments. He creates his own yeast from the vineyard. The goal is to build a living farm where the vineyard is part of a larger ecosystem. This approach is not about marketing; it is about the practical belief that healthy soil, healthy bees, and healthy vines produce honest wine. For Damir, biodynamics is not a philosophy but a way of farming that makes sense — a return to what his grandparents knew instinctively.
The Amphora, the Indigenous Yeast & the Patient Hand
Damir Mihelić's winemaking philosophy is rooted in radical patience and minimal intervention. Since 2017, all fermentations have been carried out using a pied de cuve — a starter made from indigenous yeasts collected from his own vineyard. This ensures a spontaneous, healthy fermentation that captures the microbial fingerprint of the Novigrad terroir. Sulphites are used in minimal, gradually reduced doses. The wines are not filtered — clarity and stability are achieved by time and careful handling. Temperature is not controlled; the wines ferment at their own pace, dictated by the ambient conditions of the cellar.
The defining feature of Ghira is the amphora. Damir uses 450-litre, egg-shaped terracotta amphoras crafted by a family workshop near Florence, Tuscany. Unlike Georgian qvevri, these Tuscan amphoras are made from refined clay — cleaned of flora and fauna residues — so no additional substances remain inside that could influence the wine's final aromatics. They are not buried in the ground, but stand in the cellar. Currently the estate has six amphoras, with more planned. The Madura Malvasia macerates for 15 to 20 days in amphora before ageing inside the same vessel for a year, followed by another year in bottle. The result is a wine of extraordinary depth, texture, and amber-gold colour — a world away from the fresh, simple Malvasia that dominates the Istrian market.
For the red wines, Damir uses large Slavonian oak barrels — the traditional vessel of the region. The flagship Riquertz ages for three years in large Slavonian oak plus at least one year in bottle before release. Damir does not believe in rushing. He harvests according to organoleptic assessment, sometimes in multiple passes — Malvasia is picked when it needs to be picked, and the reds are harvested even in late autumn. One year, the Cabernet Sauvignon was picked on 2 November. He experiments constantly: macerating white varieties for a month to understand how skin contact affects the final wine; creating his own yeast strains; reducing sulphur; avoiding filtration. "The world opened up completely to me, and I think I will explore it as long as I live," he says. This is not industrial winemaking; it is Istrian viticulture as lifelong research.
The Amphora Covenant & the Reverse Gear
The guiding principle of Damir's cellar is that the best wine is the one that needs the least intervention and the most time. The indigenous yeast pied de cuve — created from the estate's own grapes — captures the microbial fingerprint of the Novigrad coast and ensures a healthy, spontaneous fermentation without commercial inoculation. The absence of temperature control allows the wine to evolve at its own pace, preserving delicate aromatics and natural acidity. The absence of filtration keeps the wine's living texture and microbial complexity intact. The Tuscan terracotta amphoras — 450 litres, egg-shaped, refined clay — act as gentle vessels for maceration and ageing, extracting phenolics and tannins from the Malvasia skins while preserving the grape's coastal minerality. The large Slavonian oak barrels for the reds provide micro-oxygenation without overwhelming wood flavour. And the minimal sulphur is a practical necessity, not a philosophy. The cellar is a quiet, cool space where a young winemaker lets the terra rossa, the Adriatic breeze, and the stone walls of 1802 do the talking. The name Riquertz — "reverse gear" in German — says it all: this is winemaking in reverse, going back to move forward.
Malvasia, Teran, Muscat & the Novigrad Hand
The Ghira portfolio is deliberately small but narratively rich — each wine carries a name with a story, each label is designed by local artist Dragana Sapanjoš, and each bottle is released only when Damir believes it is ready. The estate works with both indigenous Istrian varieties — Malvasia Istriana, Teran, and Momjansk muscat — and international grapes including Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon (though the latter are being gradually replaced with autochthonous varieties). All wines are made with indigenous yeasts, minimal sulphur, no filtration, and extended ageing — wines that are honest, soulful, and deeply expressive of their place. Production is approximately 12,000 bottles per year plus a small amount of bulk wine.
The Nickname's Dream, the Reverse Gear & the Novigrad Hand
Ghira is not merely a winery; it is a dream realised — the story of how a young Istrian winemaker, guided by a family nickname from the 1200s and a stone cellar from 1802, built an organic estate a few hundred metres from the Adriatic Sea that rejects every label in favour of honest viticulture. In an era when Istrian Malvasia was defined by youth, freshness, and the commercial race to market, Damir Mihelić demonstrated that the most profound wines sometimes come from 3.5 hectares of red limestone soil, fermented with indigenous yeasts, macerated in Tuscan amphoras, aged for years in Slavonian oak, and bottled without filtration. It is largely thanks to projects like Ghira that aged Malvasia, amphora-aged orange wine, and patient natural winemaking in northwestern Istria now have a place in the global natural wine conversation. The same coastal town that tourists visit for its Roman walls and seafood has become, through his work, a source of some of the most honest, soulful, and terroir-driven wines in Croatia.
The legacy of Ghira is the legacy of the patient hand in Croatian viticulture. Damir is not a typical winery founder: he is a young vigneron who took over his father's estate at thirty, who renamed the winery after a family nickname from a ninety-year-old man's stories, who ages Malvasia for two years when the market demands it in six months, who plants facelia between the rows to feed the bees, who experiments with biodynamic preparations 500 and 501, who creates his own yeast from the vineyard, and who believes that the best wine is the one that needs no adjective. He does not chase volume. He does not chase trends. He makes wines with names like Riquertz, Madura, Kalamita, and Tortura — each one a story, each one a rebellion, each one a return to what his grandparents knew. The minimal sulphur is not a compromise; it is a practical minimum that allows the wine to travel without masking its Istrian soul.
The future of the project is tied to the future of organic and biodynamic viticulture on the Croatian coast — to the growing recognition that the best wines come not from the youngest barrels but from the most committed guardians of red soil, bees, and ancient stone. As the Madura continues to set the benchmark for amphora-aged Malvasia in Istria, as the Riquertz proves that Istrian reds can age with the patience of Barolo, and as the indigenous varieties gradually replace the international grapes in the vineyard, Damir Mihelić remains what he has always intended to be: a winemaker who makes wine — no adjective, no certification, no compromise. A man who trusted the soil, the nickname, and the stone cellar, and who built something enduring by the Adriatic Sea. The dream is not finished. It is just beginning to age.
"I make wine. I don't put any kind of adjective before the word."
— Damir Mihelić, Ghira Winery