Balkan winemaking at a glance

Albania

Albania is Balkan winemaking’s rough but stunning diamond: a growing winemaking sector blending the modern with the charmingly rustic. Roughly 8,000ha of vineyards are planted here, producing almost 3 million litres of wine, 65% of it bottled. Most Albanian wine is consumed domestically; just 20% currently goes abroad.

This is sure to rise, however, with more wineries growing or starting from scratch – some switching from production of raki (similar to grappa) to wines instead. As the wine scene modernises, Italian influence is key: many Albanian winemakers have worked across the Adriatic, and Italian consultants now oversee some of Albania’s vineyards and cellars.

But this has not meant sacrificing tradition: for example, unique wines are still made from old Pulës and Ceruja vines growing up oak and mulberry trees, whose grapes are harvested from among the branches.

North Macedonia

Although small and landlocked, North Macedonia embodies impressively outward-looking Balkan winemaking, with nearly 85% of its annual production exported – to other Balkan countries, the UK, the USA and elsewhere in Europe.

The vast majority of the country’s vineyards are in its central Povardarie region – once mainly a bulk producer, now a major source of quality wines. Povardarie’s oak-aged expressions of flagship grape Vranec, whether alone or blended with, for example, Kratošija or Cabernet Sauvignon, are some of the Balkans’ biggest and boldest.

North Macedonia is already tackling climate change head-on: recent bone-dry summers with temperatures over 40°C have contributed to reduced harvests, but have prompted investments in irrigation and plantings on cooler, higher-elevation sites. This has begun to focus attention on the hilly western Pelagonia-Polog region around Lake Ohrid, where some old vineyards rise above 700m.

Serbia

This dynamic country’s wines are just like their makers: creative, vibrant, sometimes playful – and above all diverse.

Although signature red Prokupac has caught the imagination of winemakers and stolen the limelight with its elegant, medium-bodied Burgundian character, it accounts for only around 500ha of Serbia’s nearly 22,000ha of vineyards, largely in the Župa district of Tri Morave.

In fact, white wines make up nearly 60% of Serbia’s 25-30-million-litre annual production (around half of which is exported), with Grašac leading the way. The mountainous Srem region in northern Serbia shows off everything from youthful, steel-aged expressions to oaked, ageworthy versions and even minimal-intervention wines.

Now, Serbian winemakers’ open, can-do attitude is bringing a rise in organic and natural winemaking, skin-contact wines and pét-nat.

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