In the Balkans, there's always the issue of maintaining continuity in all walks of life, including winemaking. It seems that we manage through history to keep the continuity of events that contribute to the region's identity of "a powder keg" although it would be much more befitting to be known for numerous barrels of good wine. This year, Tikveš Winery celebrates an important anniversary: 130 years of existence and preserving Macedonia's wine tradition. In 1885, the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans loses its strength, and signs of major changes appear in all parts of the empire. Far in the interior of the Balkan Peninsula, in the vinegrowing region of Tikveš , Mr Pano Velkov, a local landowner started wine production with an annual capacity of 10,000 liters. In 1912, Pano's son Aleksandar inherited the vineyards and winery of his father. At that time, the winery expanded cooperation with other businessmen in the region, among whom were also the owners of Metaxa brand. The year 1914 brought to the Balkans wars, unrest ... and phylloxera in Macedonia ... Difficult times for the Velkov family ensued. After the First World War, Tikveš Winery  made efforts to return to the wine scene and to neutralize effects of war and phylloxera. By 1938, the winery was able to resume production and sell its wines to the markets of Macedonia, Serbia, Albania, Northern Greece, Turkey and Egypt.

The Second World War meant another period of stagnation. The wine waited the hatchet to be buried and soldiers to take off their uniforms and return to their everyday life and work in the vineyards. In 1946, the Communist authorities initiated nationalization process and turned Tikveš into a state-owned company. The sons of the owner of the winery, Pano and Stefan, became employees of now state-owned company and continued working in Tikveš. In 1968, Tikves acquired several small agricultural cooperatives and thus Agrokombinat Tikveš emerged, a giant in the wine industry of the Balkans. In 1973, the wine label T'ga za jug (Longing for the south) was created in Tikveš to honour the Struga Poetry Evenings, and it contributed to winery's recognition on the territory of entire former-Yugoslavia. In 2003, the winery was taken over by M6 investment group. They acquired a winery whose 80% of production is based on entry-level wines (Tikveš Classic), with only 10% of total wine production from their own grapes, and with a network of 2,000 subcontractors. It is clear that this is not the best starting point for a winery in the Balkans where, at the moment, small family wineries are experiencing a renaissance, growing in numbers and making better and better wines. For that reason, they launched the project of modernization with regard to equipment and production, implementation of state-of-the-art technologies in the vineyard and in the cellar. Lepovo Winery, a small boutique winery, is established in order to separate wines from the premium segment and common association of  cheap Tikveš plonk. They also hired a world-class French consultant in order to improve reputation of the winery and to demonstrate achievements in the premium segment. As a result, wines from Tikveš Winery have become regular participants in all major wine competitions around the globe where they win numerous awards. This is crowned by the fact that for the first time ever,  a Macedonian wine scored 94 points by Robert Parker (Bela Voda red 2010 - Tikveš) . Nowadays, Tikveš boasts annual productions of about 12 million liters of wine. In 2015, Tikveš established the first digital museum dedicated to wine production in Macedonia with the aim to collect in one place photos and documents that will show us historical development of the Macedonian wine production and Tikveš (address: http://tikvesmuzej.mk/  ) In 2015, it's the right moment to draw the line, reconfirm chosen path and make plans for the future. To celebrate this historic anniversary and announce future aspirations, Tikveš Winery hosted a reception at the Radisson Blue in Belgrade to celebrate its 130th anniversary. Accompanied with melodies performed by Vlatko Stefanovski and Vasil Hadžimanov band, the management of Tikveš announced ambitious plans in the region of former Yugoslavia, where 2/3 of the entire wine production are sold. A colorful crowd ranging from sommeliers, wine journalists, retailers and distributors to reality show starlets and pop singers celebrated in a festive mood 130th anniversary of Tikveš Winery. So after 130 years, Tikveš remains on the path that is most easily described as: both the quantity and quality. Then, make your own choice!

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