The grapes were still being picked in Motovun when I asked Benjamin Pahović for advice on the best Teran in town. I wanted to buy it in bulk. The owner of the foremost restaurant serving Istrian dishes in or around Motovun, Benjamin knows his wine, too. He suggested that I talk with Antonio Flego from Brkač. This is what I did the very same day, and we agreed to talk again closer to the end of the year, when the wine would be ready. And so we talked this morning. Sometime in early January I will buy one-hundred and eighty liters of Teran from Antonio, which will fill the stainless-steel barrel I already bought for this purpose. I tasted his wine more than a month ago, but I told him back then that I would buy it from him in any case. The agreement on the price was left for the day of delivery. Together with a friend, this afternoon I went around Motovun and bought several bottles of wine from other well-known wine-makers. Once we taste these wines, which we will do with tender-loving care, I will decide whether or not to buy another stainless-steel barrel—perhaps a somewhat smaller one. That is how to choose wine in Motovun.

Addendum (January 12, 2004)

The verdict was unanimous: the best of the three wines was made by Edo and Giani Benčić, who live at the bottom of Gradiziol in Motovun. My friend bought from him two-hundred and fifty liters a couple of weeks ago. Today I bought another stainless-steel wine container from Giani’s brother Edo. Giani delivered it less than an hour later together with ninety-four liters of his Teran. The nominal capacity of the barrel is one-hundred liters, but it took somewhat less just like the first one I bought last year. Once again, the price was twelve kunas a liter. At the moment, the exchange rate is about eleven kunas per pound sterling. My cellar now boasts two shiny containers. And two-hundred and fifty-seven liters of delicious Teran, to be exact. Exactitude is most pleasing in this case among cases.