Page 14 - Koga po~nav da ja pi{uvam prikaznata za vino sakav da gi izbegnam site misti~ni stapici koi kako crveni rubini go osvetluvaat patot kon po~etok na ovoj bo`estven pijalok

from village Banja were accommodated in modern, solid construction family
houses. With these 45 houses the urban core of today’s Demir Kapija was created.
The further development of Demir Kapija is described in two monographies and the
development of the winery and the royal estate is described in the monography
“The estate of King Alexander the first Karagjorgjevic” by Voislav Lambev. What
we want to mention out is the modern winery in Demir Kapija which actually
represents the foundation of the modern way of production and bottling of wine in
Republic of Macedonia and with its modernity represented winery with cutting edge
technology in that period and in this region of the Balkans. The produced and
bottled wines by this winery were exported in almost all of the European royal
courts, because the dynasty Karagjorgjevic was closely related to almost all of the
royal courts in Europe. The fact that wine was exported to Europe is not important
to us, but the fact that it was present on royal and imperial tables speaks for the
wine quality. With the completion of the complex technological structure for wine
production and the beginning of the Second World War end the history about the
royal winery in Demir Kapija. During this period in the Tikvesh region existed
several small wineries that bottled home made wine, far from the quality and
quantity of the royal winery in Demir Kapija. After the Second World War in the
1950-ties a second five-year plan charted the road for development of the viticulture
and wine making in Macedonia, in this plan viticulture was treated as one of the key
agricultural branches. During the period between 1950 and 1960 in Macedonia 14
wineries were built and during the 70-ies the Tikvesh region again overtook the
primate in wine production with the construction of the largest winery in the
Balkans. The period of the 60-ties, 70-ties and even the 80-ties was the golden
period in viticulture and wine making in Macedonia. Republic of Macedonia in that
period produced wine that represented one of the most important export products
and took high position in the exchange inflow of the republic. But this period was
period of production of uncontrolled wine in sense of quality, the priority was given
to quantity. During this period in Republic of Macedonia viticulture was developed
without great scientific backup, so the varieties of grapevine were planted on large
areas to satisfy the requirements of the Yugoslav market, with the accent set on
producing and selling raw wine. It was only in the period of the 80-ties and 90-ties
after the establishment of the institute for viticulture in Republic of Macedonia a
strategy was conducted for the variety, types of grapevines and viticulture
plantations that with its quality were competitive with the French, Spanish and
Italian wines. After the independence of Republic of Macedonia new era in the
wine making begins, that means production of small quantities of high quality
wines. That trend continues in the republic, but the pioneering role of the winery
Bovin from Negotino who set the standards for contemporary, modern wine
production, has to be emphasized. It is no coincidence that this winery places its
wines throughout Europe and the world, winning the highest awards for quality and
with that opened the doors for the other wineries toward Europe and the world.
Currently in Macedonia 84 small, medium and large wineries are working, but still
the largest concentration of wineries is in the Tikvesh region.

Zvonimir Budimirovic

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