North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

produces

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

on some of vineyards, and the production was 108,100 tonnes in 2008. There are also some additional of vineyards dedicated to

table grape Table grapes are grapes intended for consumption while fresh, as opposed to grapes grown for wine production, juice production, or for drying into raisins. ''Vitis vinifera'' table grapes can be in the form of either seeded or non-seeded varieta ...

s. Red wine dominates the Macedonian wine production, with around 80 per cent. In contrast, within the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

, "Macedonia" is a

protected geographical indication Three European Union schemes of geographical indications and traditional specialties, known as protected designation of origin (PDO), protected geographical indication (PGI), and traditional specialities guaranteed (TSG), promote and protect nam ...

(PGI) for wines produced in the Greek viticulture region of Macedonia.e-bacchus: Μακεδονία
/ref>

History

While part of

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

, North Macedonia was a producer of wine and vodka. In the 1980s, it accounted for around two-thirds of the Yugoslav wine production. After the breakup of Yugoslavia, the wine production of the new country decreased dramatically, from 1.8 million

hectoliter The litre (international spelling) or liter (American English spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metre (m3). ...

s in the mid-1990s to 447,000 hl in 2002.

Wine regions

North Macedonia has three wine-growing regions: *

Povardarie Povardarie ( mk, Повардарие) is a geographic region in the central part of North Macedonia, and includes all of the canyons, mountains and valleys through which the river Vardar flows. Term is used in names of Diocese of Povardarie of th ...

, in the valley of river

Vardar The Vardar (; mk, , , ) or Axios () is the longest river in North Macedonia and the second longest river in Greece, in which it reaches the Aegean Sea at Thessaloniki. It is long, out of which are in Greece, and drains an area of around . Th ...

, mostly around the towns of

Negotino Negotino ( mk, Неготино, ) is a town in North Macedonia, the seat of the Negotino Municipality. Its population is about 13,000. Geography Negotino is located on the right side of the river Vardar. It is about Above mean sea level, abov ...

and

Kavadarci Kavadarci ( mk, Кавадарци ) is a town in the Tikveš region of North Macedonia. In the heart of North Macedonia's wine country, it is home to the largest winery in Southeast Europe, named after the Tikveš plain. The town of Kavadarci i ...

. It is the most important region both in terms of quantity and wine quality. * Pčinja-

Osogovo Osogovo (Bulgarian/ Macedonian: ), or Osogovska Planina or Osogovski Planini (Осоговска Планина or Осоговски Планини), is a mountain range and ski resort between the south-western part of Bulgaria (Kyustendil Provi ...

, to the east on the border with

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

. *

Pelagonija Pelagonia ( mk, Пелагонија, Pelagonija; el, Πελαγονíα, Pelagonía) is a geographical region of Macedonia named after the ancient kingdom. Ancient Pelagonia roughly corresponded to the present-day municipalities of Bitola, Pri ...

Polog Polog ( mk, Полог, Polog; sq, Pollog), also known as the Polog Valley ( mk, links=no, Полошка Котлина, Pološka Kotlina; sq, links=no, Lugina e Pollogut), is located in the north-western part of the Republic of North Macedo ...

, around

Lake Ohrid Lake Ohrid ( mk, Охридско Езеро , al, Liqeni i Ohrit , also referred as ''Liqeni i Pogradecit'';) is a lake which straddles the mountainous border between the southwestern part of North Macedonia and eastern Albania. It is one of Eu ...

, to the west on the border with

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

Grape varieties

The grape varieties common in cultivation includes a large proportion of indigenous varieties and varieties common to Central Europe and the Balkans, as well as some

international varieties An international variety is a grape variety that is widely planted in most of the major wine producing regions and has widespread appeal and consumer recognition. These are grapes that are highly likely to appear on wine labels as varietal wines a ...

. Red varieties include

Vranec Vranac (), sr-Cyrl, Вранац; mk, Вранец, Vranec) is a red grape variety that originates from Montenegro. It is the most planted grape variety in Montenegro. It is believed to be closely related to Kratosija. Vranac is considered the ...

(the most common variety of North Macedonia),

Kratosija Zinfandel (also known as Primitivo) is a variety of black-skinned wine grape. The variety is grown in over 10 percent of California vineyards. DNA analysis has revealed that it is genetically equivalent to the Croatian grapes Crljenak Kaštel ...

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebanon' ...

and

Merlot Merlot is a dark blue–colored wine grape variety, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of ''merle'', the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the ...

Stanušina Crna Stanušina Crna or Stanušina ( mk, Станушина, also rendered as Stanushina) is a red grape variety indigenous to North Macedonia and is found nowhere else in the world. Little known outside of its native country, nonetheless it is capab ...

is a unique variety of grape of local origin from North Macedonia, capable of producing very high quality wines, very popular on domestic market, little known outside its native country. White varieties include

Smederevka Smederevka () is a white wine grape variety grown in Serbia, Bulgaria and in the Tikveš wine-growing region of North Macedonia. The variety's name is derived from the name of Serbian city Smederevo. Most probably the growing of this grape variet ...

Welschriesling Welschriesling is a white wine grape variety, unrelated to the Rhine Riesling, that is grown throughout Central Europe. Origin The descendance of Welschriesling is uncertain. The German name ''Welschriesling'' literally means ' Romanic Riesling' ...

(usually referred to as Laški Rizling),

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern French wine, France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from English wine, Englan ...

Sauvignon blanc is a green-skinned grape variety that originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French words ''sauvage'' ("wild") and ''blanc'' ("white") due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in ...

and

Žilavka Žilavka is a white wine grape variety planted primarily in the Mostar region of Herzegovina, the southern area of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As a varietal wine, Žilavka is known for its bright freshness and acidity. Ideal for general meal pairin ...

References

{{Wine by country