During our recent trip to Bordeaux to attend Vinitech, viticultural and winemaking equipment fair, Vinopedia used moments of free time to hunt historical evidence related to Serbian winemaking. Therefore, we bring you exclusively historical records from a wine competition that took place in 1882 at the Bordeaux Wine Exhibition. It was the first significant attempt to present Serbian wines on European markets. Serbian wines in those days attracted particular attention, since West European vineyards were already affected by phylloxera.

A total of 28 exhibitors from Serbia participated at the wine exhibition in Bordeaux with 58 wines: 32 wines from Negotinska Krajina, 9 wines from Smederevo, 5 wines from Niš, 4 wines from Župa and Levač, 2 wines from Požarevac , 2 wines from Jelica and one wine from Grocka, Jagodina, Venčac and Pocerje-Tamnava region. Some of the exhibited wines received good grades, whilst 19 wines were awarded. Honorary diploma  was awarded to His Majesty King Milan and the Government of the Kingdom of Serbia. The gold medal for progress was awarded to wines from the royal vineyards and the wines of Nikola Hristić, in those days the President of the Council of Ministers and the Minister of Interior Affairs. The silver medal was awarded to wines of Vaso Mijatović, an innkeeper from Belgrade, Jovan Protić, a clerk from Belgrade, Ljubomir Novaković, an enologist from Kraljevo, Vićentije Popović, a priest from Ježevica and Karl Perolo, an innkeeper from Belgrade. The bronze medal was awarded to wines of Dr. Bulić from Smederevo, Jovan Jelkić, a wine merchant from Belgrade, Stojan Pavlović, a tobacco merchant from Požarevac, Arsa Lukić, a merchant from Belgrade, Aleksa Novaković, a lawyer from Belgrade, V. Vujović, a state advisor. An honorary diploma was given to R. Paranos, a merchant from Belgrade, Jovan Marković, a farmer from Kobišnica, Mika Petrović, an innkeeper from Belgrade, Blazijades from Niš and A. Vukićević, a clerk from Jagodina. However, according to information available to the Ministry of National Economy, wines that were largely praised were not those produced by wineries in their own vineyards, but those produced by individual merchants who would buy grapes from different vinegrowers depending on the year and market needs.

Exclusively, during our stay in France, Vinopedia discovered a Jury Report prepared after a wine tasting back in 1882 which gave account of the evaluated Serbian wines.

Here is an integral text about Serbian wines that were evaluated in Bordeaux in 1882:

“Serbia has areas under vineyards occupying 37,800 hectares, which represents just over 1/20 of the total agricultural land.

The average wine production is 636,000 hectoliters.

Negotin is the main production center for red wines that may be of interest for export, and from there we also tasted the largest number of samples.

Smederevo is the main center of white wine production. Without stating exact figures, it can be said that Serbian wines are still exported in small quantities. Their price has therefore slightly increased, varying from 15 to 20 francs per hectolitre on site at the time of harvest.

Serbian wines left a better impression on the grand jury than their reputation.

They have a nice body, no indication of terroir (wine region) where they came from, they have quite high alcohol levels. These qualities are diminished by quite distinct sweetness for still (consumable) wines, and yet insufficient to be fortified wines.

Serbian winemakers should strive to improve their product to suit the type of still (consumable) wines, and take necessary measures to limit sweetness. The selection of their grape varieties and early harvesting time can undoubtedly positively modify character of these wines and open up important markets for them, supported by modest pricing scheme and particular qualities which these wines intrinsically possess. ”

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