Wine from Serbia, slowly on its way back

Serbia is increasingly qualifying as a wine-producing country. Again. Because wine used to be commonplace in this Western Balkan country. Regimes unfriendly to wine and conflicts brought viticulture to a standstill. And now? Trust, hard work and a little money and knowledge from abroad are slowly putting Serbia back on the wine map.

For centuries, the monarchs attached great importance to Serbia's wine tradition. A tradition that had been established during the Iron Age. But the Ottoman rule put an end to the vineyards. During the Habsburg Empire, a small revival of wine growing arose. This was short-lived, because the strict socialist regime in the former Yugoslavia, wars in the Balkans and political unrest did not do the quantity and quality of wine any good. And wine growing had sunk to a low point again. But in the last 10 years, the climb out of the valley has begun.

Serbian wine regions and grape varieties

Wine is made from local grape varieties such as Temjanika, Vranac, Smederevka, Morava and Prokupec. And also the international varieties such as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Olazsrizling can be found in the almost 70,000 hectares of vineyards. Typical for Serbia are the ‘sand wines’ from the Vojvodina province, in the north. These are wines that come from sandy soils that were once part of the prehistoric Pannonian Sea. Long ago, this was the stage for local varieties such as the Kadarka. We mainly find Kadarka in Hungary, where Serbian winemakers brought it long ago. Today, in this temperate continental climate, we find white Chardonnay, Rhine Riesling and Olaszrizling in both dry and sweet versions and wines from Pinot Noir and Merlot.

A little further south of this Pannonian plain lies the region of Syrmia, in Fruška Gora. One of the oldest, if not the oldest wine regions of Serbia, where the Roman Emperor Probus already had vines planted. The combination of hilly terrain and the proximity of the Danube River provides a suitable terroir for quality wine, including Rieslings, Portugieser and even Chasselas. The wines from this region have been making their way around the world for centuries. According to tradition, the traditional aromatic ‘Bermet’ wine, a sweet and fortified wine made with herbs and spices, was on the wine list of the Titanic...

South of Belgrade, around the city of Smederevo, the Smederevka is indeed widely planted. Smederevka is the symbol for viticulture in this region, which is extremely suitable for wine growing due to the Morova and Danube rivers and the loose, poor soils. Smederevka is made as a 'mono-cépage' wine but also often blended with Riesling or Sémillon. The level varies from table wines to quality wines made. Gamay and Prokupec represent the red wines. Wine is now produced in every corner of Serbia. These corners are also easy to visit; especially now that Serbia is investing heavily in wine tourism.