Viticulture in Bosnia and Herzegovina

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Viticulture in Bosnia and Herzegovina takes place almost exclusively in the climatically suitable, approx. 10,000 km 2 large Herzegovina and relies to a large extent on the autochthonous grape varieties Žilavka and Blatina . In 2011, 34,000 hectoliters were produced on 6,000 hectares .

history

In Herzegovina, viticulture is said to be around 2,200 years old and go back to the Illyrian era, when Thracians are said to have introduced the first vine seedlings to the Balkans . Finds from Roman times show grapes and vine leaves. Medieval sources show that the future Bosnian king Tvrtko I praised the wine from the area around Suha - today's Čitluk - in 1353 . Even in the Middle Ages , the total area under cultivation is said to have been larger than it is today in both the predecessor formations of Herzegovina, the Hum , and in Bosnia . Almost every noble family had their own vineyards, which is evident from the first cadastral documents of the 15th and 16th centuries. With the conquest of the region by the Ottomans beginning in 1463 , the turmoil of war and the gradual spread of Islam , viticulture came to a standstill.

Modern viticulture began towards the end of the 19th century under Austro-Hungarian administration (1878 to 1918). In 1886 the wine and fruit growing office was founded in Gnojnice near Mostar. The total acreage increased from 4,525 ha (Herzegovina 4,403 ha, Bosnia 121 ha) in 1878 to 6,168 ha (Herzegovina 5,901 ha, Bosnia 268 ha) in 1898 and thus by 36 percent in 20 years. At the same time, modern educational methods, such as vine stakes to reduce infestation with downy mildew , were taught and introduced. The average amount of wine produced in 1898 was around 30,000 hectoliters per year. At the same time, the first wine exports to western and central Europe began.

In the period before 1990, wine was produced on 5,691 hectares in Herzegovina and 90 hectares in Bosnia. Then as now, the wine production focused on in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina located westherzegowinischen communities Čitluk, Čapljina , Ljubuški , Medjugorje , Mostar and Stolac (cantons Herzegovina-Neretva and West Herzegovina ) (1990: 5,314 hectares) and on the Republika Srpska in the east-Herzegovinian municipality of Trebinje (1990: 377 ha). Together, these communities form the "Middle Neretva-Trebišnjica" wine-growing region.

Legal bases

In the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, viticulture was regulated by the Wine Act of May 31, 2012.

In the Republika Srpska, the Ministry of Agriculture presented a draft wine law for public discussion at the beginning of 2014. Currently (as of January 2015) this draft is still in the parliamentary process.

In view of the legislative activities in the two entities , the decision of the draft of a national wine law, which has been in the parliamentary procedure since 2008, is hardly to be expected at the national level.

climate

Herzegovina has a temperate and Mediterranean climate with hot summers and mild winters where the temperature rarely falls below 0 ° Celsius. Mostar, the capital, has 2290 hours of sunshine a year, an average annual temperature of 15.2 ° C and relatively high annual rainfall (1455 mm). However, the soils are karst and do not hold moisture. On some of these karst soils with minimal soil, the so-called stone wine, mostly made from the white grape variety Žilavka, is produced as a specialty.

Vineyards and amount produced

In 2007, 46,000 hectoliters of wine were produced on 5,500 hectares in Herzegovina, whereas in 2009 only around 39,200 hectoliters of wine were produced. Of this, the part of Herzegovina located in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina accounted for 35,180 hectoliters and the part in the Republika Srpska accounted for 4,030 hectoliters. The production capacity of the wine-producing companies was significantly higher at 264,000 hectoliters. In 2013, 46 registered farms still produced an estimated 29,260 hectoliters on around 3,500 hectares. Approx. 55% of the production is accounted for by white wine varieties, the rest by red wine varieties. Predominantly high-quality wines are produced using the latest technology.

Grape varieties

The autochthonous 'Žilavka' dominates the white wine varieties by far; In addition, the autochthonous varieties 'Bena' and ' Krkošija ' as well as the regionally or nationally widespread varieties 'Smederevka' , ' Tamjanika ' and ' Chardonnay ' are also produced to a lesser extent .

The autochthonous 'Blatina' dominates the red wine varieties by far; in addition, to a lesser extent, ' Vranac ' (especially in the Neretva river valley south of Mostar), Merlot , ' Syrah ', ' Pinot noir ', ' Cabernet Sauvignon ', 'Kambuša' , ' Mali Plavac ' and ' Trnjak ', the often used as a pollinator for which 'Blatina' is used.

Export and import

In 2009, around 25,370 hectoliters were exported from Bosnia and Herzegovina, while imports were 96,576 hectoliters. The main export markets are Croatia and Serbia , with small quantities reaching Germany and Austria . 96% of imports come from Serbia, Montenegro , Croatia, Slovenia and Macedonia .

Wine route

In 2004, with the help of the European Union, the "Vinska Cesta Hercegovine", a wine route through the relevant production areas of Herzegovina, was founded. Its purpose is to promote wine tourism and the sale of wine for local producers.

literature

  • Miquel Hudin Balsa, Elia Varela Serra: Vinologue Dalmatia & Herzegovina. San Francisco 2008, ISBN 978-0-615-23217-1

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Worldwide vineyards 2010/2011, OIV report, Paris
  2. ↑ a b Wine in Herzegovina ( Memento from October 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) In: Vinska Cesta Hercegovine, 2014. Retrieved on June 7, 2014.
  3. ↑ The Herzegovinian wines. In: Merkwürichkeiten Herceg, April 21, 2011. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
  4. ^ Bosnia-Herzegovina . In: Wein-Plus.eu. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
  5. ↑ Fruit growing and viticulture . In: The Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in Words and Images, Volume 22, Bosnien und Hercegowina, (“ Kronprinzenwerk ”), Vienna 1901, p. 460. Retrieved on December 17, 2014.
  6. ^ Wine route of Herzegovina ( Memento from July 4, 2014 in the Internet Archive ). In: Vinska cesta Hercegovine - brošura , p. 12, 13. Accessed January 7, 2015.
  7. ↑ ZAKON O VINU  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: SLUŽBENE NOVINE FEDERACIJE BiH, No. 55, June 27, 2012. Retrieved May 25, 2014.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / fmpvs.gov.ba  
  8. ↑ U RS uskoro novi zakon o vinu . In: Nesavizne Novine, April 11, 2014. Retrieved May 25, 2014.
  9. ↑ Climate diagram: Mostar Bosnia-Herzegovina ( Memento from October 6, 2015 in the Internet Archive ). In: Earth points. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Bosnia-Herzegovina" . In: Wein-Plus.eu. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  11. ↑ a b Wine separatism without the geographic origin - In Vino Plebiscitum ( Memento of January 8, 2015 in the Internet Archive ). In: Foreign Policy Initiative BH, April 21, 2011. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
  12. ↑ Raško Vlastelica, Dušan Jelić: A building block of Herzegovina Wine Report 2013 . In: Wines of Balkans, November 14, 2013. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  13. ↑ Raško Vlastelica, Dušan Jelić: A building block of Herzegovina Wine Report 2013. In: Wines of Balkans, November 14, 2013. Accessed June 1, 2014.
  14. ↑ Others varieties. ( Memento of October 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) In: Vinska Cesta Hercegovine. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
  15. ↑ Raško Vlastelica, Dušan Jelić: A building block of Herzegovina Wine Report 2013. In: Wines of Balkans, November 14, 2013. Accessed June 1, 2014.