"Dedicate enough time to each wine. Don't let yourself miss a great wine. This is not a competition in which wines participate in the race against time. Feel free to come back and taste it again, because that way the best that the Balkans have will stand out!" , the words of Konstantinos Lazarakis MW, chairman of the competition, echoed through the lobby of the Holiday Inn Hotel in Skopje during the early morning briefing for judges.

Indeed, judges at BIWC competition have ample time to assess each wine. Thus, each wine has a chance to show its best while in the tasting glass. This year, wine judges evaluate wines within 5 tasting panels. BIWC is specific because the Australian methodology applies, which means that in addition to awarding points for the wine's qualities, awarded points are subsequently discussed within the panel to reconfirm the awarded score. Also, white and red wines are alternately evaluated in the flights, so that the judges' palates do not get tired.

Soon, Konstantinos announced the composition of each panel of judges. Panel No. 5 brought together judges from Greece, Romania and Serbia. Someone commented with a smile that we are a real Balkans' team, since these are few of the countries that have never fought against each other in the Balkans' turbulent history. But, the competition is about to start soon... Greek autochthonous white grape varieties are followed by red blends made from local and international varieties, then Traminers from the Balkans arrive... Each flight brings new surprises and new champions... One can clearly see that the Balkans' wine scene is booming... The goal is for each panel to evaluate approximately 50 wine samples a day.

In the afternoon, we set off to get better acquainted with the Macedonian wine regions. During lunch at Stobi winery, we have the opportunity to get acquainted with wines from this winery, which feature exceptional price-quality ratio. The wines were presented by oenologist Andon Krstevski. Contemporary twist on Macedonian gastronomy has found its ideal partner in wines from the portfolio of Stobi winery. Among them, Rkaciteli is presented as a grape variety well adapted to the Macedonian climate. Stobi Winery owns 55 hectares of vineyards under this variety. The harvest is at the end of September, since the vineyards are planted on the northern side. Freshness and youth burst from the glass, but one wouldn't make a mistake if the wine were left to mature in the bottle for a few years. In addition to the award-winning Vranec Veritas 2015, which matured for 24 months in American and French oak barrels, followed by a few more years in a bottle, BIWC judges could also taste Vranac from the legendary vintage 2011, which is considered the best vintage in modern history of Stobi winery. Therefore, potent Vranac spent 24 months in new oak barrels.

The tour continues at Puklavec Family Wines winery. The winery, owned by the Slovenian Puklavec family, is their investment in North Macedonia and produces nowadays exclusively red wines, while whites and sparklings are produced in Slovenia. The varietal composition in the vineyards includes Vranac, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. The winery capacity totals 300,000 liters. It is really difficult to describe the beauty and distinctive features of Disan plot. One should observe the surrounding vineyards from the spacious top-floor terrace of the winery, merely 120 km away from the sea coast. Vranac Instinct 2019 gained numerous sympathies during the tasting. On the nose spicy, concentrated black fruit, blackberry, blueberry, black currant, plum, mint, violet. On the palate, potent, youthful, lush. A special surprise followed at the end of the visit: a chance to taste Pinot Blanc 1971 from the wine archive in Slovenia, semi-sweet wine, still very lively, vibrant acidity, flavors of quince compote, apple compote, honey, citrus, dried apricots, figs. Layered, noble ... And a nice way to complete the visit to Puklavec Family Wines winery.

In the vicinity of Puklavec winery, one can also visit Venec winery. Until recently, Venec winery predominantly sold grapes from its vineyards, but since last year, large investments and renovation of the winery's infrastructure have been underway. Grapes from the best positions are not sold, but used for making wines under Venec label instead. Koria Tamjanika 2020 left a nice impression. However, although it wasn't originally planned, we got the opportunity to taste Prokupec 2019, a monovarietal wine from Sokolče microlocation, at an altitude of 200 meters. Varietal typicity, elegance, subdued alcohols, this Prokupac nicely counterbalanced full-bodied, powerful, intense Vranac with high alcohols.

At the day's close, there followed dinner accompanied with the wines from Bovin winery. Bovin Winery grows grapes in the vineyards covering 70 hectares. Bovin Winery presented to the wine judges the famous label of A'gupka Vranac from 2012 and Merlot Barrique 2015.

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