Wine Across the Balkans: The Powder Keg of Europe Is Blowing Up

The World Atlas of Wine is on its 8th edition, and it makes a handsome, sturdy reference work, a true coffee table book. But when Hugh Johnson first published the Atlas in 1971, it was a comparatively skinny volume. To revisit that first edition reveals just how much the wine industry has evolved in half a century. France's historic growing regions are represented as are pockets of Italy, Germany, and Spain. The rest of the wine world exists as a mere adjunct to this main event, as if Western Europe was the only region with deep winemaking roots. But hiding in plain sight - lurking just beyond a rather arbitrary geopolitical curtain - was an entire peninsula under vines. The wines may have paled in comparison to the West's Greatest Growths, but production was robust. Winemaking had been an essential part of the culture for thousands of years, and local grapes flourished against the odds. All that was needed was a change in political and economic fortunes to signal a revival and put this ancient corner of the wine world back on the map.

The word "Balkans" comes from the Turkish for "mountains." It variously refers to a geographical area - the peninsula bounded by the Adriatic, Mediterranean, and Black Seas - and to the peoples and states that have historically resided there. We're applying the broadest possible definition of the Balkans, including Moldova in the mix "by virtue of its long-standing historical and cultural connections with Romania."

This lesson is appropriately Balkanized, with offerings from Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania, and of course, Moldova. (Sincerest apologies, Albania.) The region's wines are just as varied and diverse as its people are linguistically and religiously. There is no archetypical Balkan wine any more than there is an archetypical Balkan. The mountains that define the peninsula have a significant effect on its climate with the northern and central zones cool and continental while the southern and coastal areas are more Mediterranean.

Malvazija Istarska, Piquentum, Istria, Croatia, 2019
Vranac, Monastery Tvrdos, Trebinje, Bosnia & Herzegovina, 2017
Riesling, "Margvs Margi," Budimir, Zupa, Serbia, 2012
Rkatsiteli, Stobi, Tikveš, Macedonia, 2020
Rubin, "Brestovitsa Vineyard," Georgiev / Milkov, Thracian Valley, Bulgaria, 2019
Fetească Albă, "María," Jidvei, Tarnave, Romania, 2018
Saperavi, "Individo," Château Vartely, Codru, Moldova, 2017
Red Misket Blanc, "Why not?", Georgiev / Milkov, Thracian Valley, Bulgaria, 2020
Gamza, Bononia, Danube Plain, Bulgaria, 2019
Cabernet Sauvignon, Cricova, Crodu, Moldova, 2000
Medenac Beli, "Orion," Oszkar Maurer, Fruska Gora, Serbia, 2017

In Bill's recap email, he said:

Special thanks to Victoria Gellis for joining us all the way from MOLDOVA and sharing her thoughts about the local wine scene. It's impossible not to feel like I was doing each of these places a gross disservice by speaking in the broadest terms about so many separate, distinct winemaking cultures with proudly ancient roots. The diversity here is staggering as is the wealth of native grapes that don't exist anywhere outside the region.

It's difficult to identify any features common to all Balkan wines. The multiplicity of styles is itself the defining theme, although the shared history of life under Communist rule and quality-conscious production swept aside for the sake of collectivization are common threads. The Balkan countries are both ancient and emerging on the international market.

Across the Balkan Peninsula along the Adriatic Coast, Croatia has enjoyed more success establishing its reputation for fine wine but still wrestles with the legacy of Communist rule:
https://grapecollective.com/articles/...

As for further rabbit holes:
Balkan Insight serves up a broad overview of the region's wine country by country.
https://balkaninsight.com/2018/08/07/...

Grape Collective gives you the lowdown on Dimitri Brečević of Istria's Piquentum https://grapecollective.com/articles/...

and Ana Jordanova of North Macedonia's Stobi. https://grapecollective.com/articles/...

Blogger Dušan Jelić shares his thoughts on Serbia's wine scene with Exotic Wine Travel. https://exoticwinetravel.com/dusan-je...

Old friend Jancis Robinson shines a light on "Bosnia-Herzegovina at the crossroads" https://www.jancisrobinson.com/articl...

Finally, Forbes covers Moldova (broadly) https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlsson...

and its labyrinthine cellars. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimdobso...