It's January 18th in Temerin (North Serbia). Since early morning, a crowd of people have been gathering in front of the Cultural Center. I hear a mix of languages: Serbian, Hungarian, Slovak; I recognize different dialects: from Belgrade, Novi Sad or Srem... Wine samples and parcels continue to arrive ...

For the 23rd time this year, Temerin has become the region's wine epicenter in January. You probably wonder how come there is a gap between 7,000 hectares of vineyards officially registered in the Serbian vineyard register and 21,000 hectares of vineyards counted by official statistics. Arrival in Temerin will explain it all. In Serbia, about 80,000 households own vineyards, of which almost 90% are vineyards up to half a hectare in size. There are hundreds of winemakers who love and commercially make wine from their small vineyards, solely for the needs of their household or exclusively local sales at the doorstep. You will not find these wines in wine shops, specialized wine magazines, fairs. However, these wines live their lives in the local community. They can be found on the dinner table during holidays, during Sunday lunch, when friends get together after hunting, during resting period in the shade of a linden tree in the yard.

The Temerin Wine Competition brought together more than 100 wine judges and tasters split into 16 tasting panels this year to evaluate 777 wine samples from Serbia, Croatia, Hungary, Romania. A diverse panel composition: from renowned wine tasters with international experience, wine journalists, college professors to sommeliers and winemakers. The organizers of the competition, Temerin's Association of Gardening Friends, conceived this competition with the intention of highlighting and rewarding quality among the wines displayed. So, the gold medal awarded at this competition is aimed at giving an example and showing fellow winemakers which direction to follow.

When the official part of the competition ended, following conversation with local winemakers, my prevailing impression is that small winemakers are eager to acquire new knowledge and skills. Very often, they do not know where to find answers to their dilemmas and tips on how to improve their work in the vineyard or cellar. EDUCATION - urgently. I am convinced that organizers of this fair and competition should establish cooperation with the Association of Serbia's Winemakers and Vinegrowers, and that they should organize an accompanying educational program for small winemakers, where practical experiences and advice would be shared by oenologists and technologists from well-known wineries. This kind of grassroots action would improve the foundations and allow a new generation of small family wineries to emerge. Also, this competition and the results indicate that there are already a few small winemakers in this segment who are putting their wines to the fore, and their work and wines need to be brought closer to wine consumers in Serbia. They need a small incentive to catch up with well-known wineries.

I was surprised by the excessive use of sulphur dioxide in some wines. I get the impression that winemakers themselves, having in mind that they were about to send their wine to a competition, used a higher sulphur dioxide content to protect the wine... However, this should not be done a few days before the wine is sent for evaluation. Also, the most common problem encountered among samples is oxidation. It would really be helpful for small winemakers to hear as often as possible a lecture given by an expert dealing with the effect of wine exposure to oxygen. It is vital that education of small winemakers and help in procurement of state-of-the-art equipment minimize wines with flaws.

Concerning the choice of varieties, Grašac is the most common variety among white wines, which is in line with the fact that it is also the most represented variety in Serbian vineyards. On the other hand, there is a growing presence of varieties created at the Institute of Winemaking and Viticulture in Sremski Karlovci, particularly Morava, Bačka, Sila, etc. Among black grape varieties, there is a large presence of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, but Frankovka (Blaufrankisch) wines also occupy a significant niche.

The tradition of Šiler (Schiller) wines is still alive at local wine events. I hope that thanks to these small winemakers, this tradition will be preserved in Serbia, and that we will be able to bring it back and re-affirm it, as the winemakers in Hungary did.

At the 23rd Temerin Wine Competition, the double gold medals were awarded to the following wines:

Chardonnay 2018 - Adamović Winery (Banoštor)

Generosa 2018 - Molnar Winery (Mor, Hungary)

Chardonnay 2019 - Sloboda Winery (Maradik)

Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 - Kabač Winery (Temerin)

Vörös Cuvee 2019 - Tamas Gunzer (Villany, Hungary)

Merlot 2017 - Šijački Winery (Banoštor)

Villanyi Franc 2017 - Koch Csaba Vinart (Villany, Hungary)

Cuvee 2019 - Petro Istvan (Temerin)

Alkonyat Cuvee  2013 - Naphegy Winery (Csátalja, Hungary)

Csongradi Kekfrankos 2017 - Martin Bodor (Csongrad, Hungary)

Kekfrankos  2018 Pusztai Csaba (Csongrad, Hungary)

Merlot-Cabernet  Barrique 2018 - Predrag Došen (Jajinci)

Nagykarolyi Shiraz 2019 - Veres Laszlo (Nagykároly, Romania)

Crveni vitez 2017 - Mali podrum Gajić (Aleksandrovac)

Csanad Cuvee 2015 - Koch Csaba Vinart (Villany, Hungary)

Valčić 2016 - Miroslav Valčić (Belgrade)

Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 - Szabo Cellar (Karanac, Croatia)

Paulus Rose 2019 - Molnar Winery (Mor, Hungary)

Rose 2019 - Belward Cellar (Pecs, Hungary)

Roze 2019 - Langov podrum (Inđija)

Wine consumers will have an opportunity to taste them at the January Temerin Wine Fair on Saturday, 25th January, 2020 at the Sports Center. The fair starts at 11am.

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