Davorin Kuchan updates traditional Croatian recipes with California ingredients in Old World Spirits’ high-octane elixirs by Kasia Grobelny Davorin Kuchan at his Old World Spirits distillery in Belmont. (Photo by Charles Russo) Growing up in Croatia around his family’s vineyard just north of Zagreb, Davorin Kuchan found himself drawn to the incendiary end of the family business: high-octane spirits distilled from grapes, plums, walnuts and pears. “I liked winemaking, but I loved distilling,” says the ...