evidence: The Pelješac Peninsula is a finger of land extending north of Dubrovnik, from the isthmus that begins at Ston to the top of Lovišta. The landmass stretches across the mouth of the Bosnian Bay of Klek and is home to some of the best wineries in Croatia. In particular, the peninsula is known for production of wine from the endemic Croatian varietal Plavac Mali: a hardy, red varietal that is well-suited to the dry limestone terroir of the region. The vines often have root systems that extend more than 20 meters/66 feet into limestone seams in search of water. Everything on Pelješac is dry farmed, and 99.9% of the grapes we saw were bush vines, enabling the plants to naturally protect the berries from the scorching summer Croatian sun. Some serious backbreaking work to farm along Pelješac: everything is hand-picked, hand-pruned and even manually weeded.