The wines of Botunjac

Botunjac Wines has for decades been known as one of Serbia's best winemakers. It's a small family business that has made wine since the Second World War. Botunjac has always remained small-scale - they have just two hectares of vineyards, and they prune heavily to harvest grapes with concentrated juice. The output is therefore limited, but the quality is consistently remarkably high.

You could see Botunjac Wines as natural winemakers 'avant la lettre'. Natural wines are trendy nowadays, but the Botunjac family has never known any other way than growing organic grapes, fermenting them on wild yeasts, adding no enzymes and not filtering the wine.

The way the Botunjac family makes their wine has been documented in a special way. Grandfather Vucko was captured by the Germans during the Second World War. In the summer of 1942 he wrote a detailed letter home with instructions for how the wine should be made without him. Grandson Kosta still does it that way.

He has two hectares of vineyards in the south of Serbia, a few hours' drive from Belgrade. There, the vines grow at a relatively large distance from each other to enjoy optimal sun exposure. Most are Pinot Noir, with small plots of Prokupac, Jagoda and Welschriesling.

If you want to know more about this winery, here you will find the link to the website of Botunjac.