Serbia

Viticulture in Serbia dates back to antiquity and was already influenced by the Thracians and Greeks before the turn of time. After Emperor Domitian (51-96) banned the cultivation of vines outside the Apennines in the Roman provinces in 92 AD, it was reintroduced by Emperor Probus (232-282). The first vines were probably planted on the slopes of Fruška Gora in Syrmia (in Vojvodina), as indicated by some archaeological finds. Among other things, a mosaic of the vine-covered wine god Dionysus was found there in the palace complex of Romuliana of Emperor Galerius (250-311) near Zaječar in eastern Serbia, which was built as a retirement residence. Between the 12th and 14th centuries, Serbian Orthodox monasteries brought about a flourishing wine culture and subsequently gained great economic importance. In 1459 Serbia was finally conquered by the Ottomans and remained part of the Ottoman Empire until 1804. During this time, the Islamic ban on alcohol led to a decline in viticulture.

Viticulture in modern times

There was an upswing after the Second World War (1939-1945) in the communist era under Josip Broz Tito (1892-1980) in what was then Yugoslavia. The total area at that time was 250,000 hectares. However, mainly simple mass wines were produced. This was, among other things, the medium sweet developed Amselfelder (today Kosovo). At that time, Serbia was by far the largest and most important wine country in the Yugoslav state. In the 1990s, the state was greatly reduced by the independence of former federal states due to warlike events. In 2003, the four former constituent states Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Northern Macedonia and Slovenia gained independence and the remaining territory was renamed Serbia-Montenegro. After a referendum in 2006, Montenegro finally also became independent and the rest was renamed Serbia. The southern province of Kosovo proclaimed itself independent in 2008. The wine-growing structure has changed considerably as a result. In Central Serbia (Centralna Srbija) there were hardly any armed conflicts, which is why the vineyards here remained largely unscathed, in contrast to other constituent states.

Wine-growing regions

These are mainly located along the rivers Danube, Morava and Timok close to the borders with Romania and Bulgaria. Serbia is divided into five wine-growing regions. These are Timok in the Krajina with Negotin and Knjaževac on the Romanian border (mainly red wine), Sumadija-Velika Morava south of Belgrade (mainly white wine), Zapadna-Morava on the upper reaches of the Morava River, Juzna-Morava with Vranje in the south (the best quality red wines) and Pocerina-Podgora east of Belgrade. The continental climate is characterised by cold winters and warm to hot summers.

Grape variety list

The area under vines covers about 55,000 hectares. The wine production volume is around 2.3 million hectolitres. The grape variety index in 2016 (Kym Anderson statistics):

Map: Goruma
Vineyards: By Saskafotosaska - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link