Meet the adorned Syrmia, and find out why it is so beautiful to live in it (2.)

After finding out about the wines in Croatian part of Syrmia, we are headed towards the East and we are finding out about the wines in Vojvodina part of Syrmia. Croatian Syrmian wine scene is really big, but the one in Vojvodina is even bigger, due to the fact that a larger part of Fruška Gora is in Serbian part of Syrmia. Ilok is the easternmost part of Croatian Syrmia, a part of Croatian territory deeply cut into the territory of the Republic of Serbia (its Vojvodina counterpart is the village Jamena, a far south-western part of Syrmia) and four border crossings lead from Ilok to Serbia, one of them is towards Bačka, and three towards Syrmia.

WINES IN VOJVODINA PART OF SYRMIA

The wine is a proof that God loves us and that he wants to see us happy (Benjamin Franklin)

Between Ilok and Erdevik you can find a village Ljuba, and in Erdevik there are two best wineries in the western part of Vojvodina Syrmia. The winery Erdevik offers great Chardonnay with the name Omnibus lector. There are also Rosa nostra (90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon) and Tri roze koze (50% Merlot, 30% Syrah, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon).

rose cuvee Tri roze koze

One exceptional story is their red blend Trianon, which is made of 55% Merlot, 37% Syrahai and 8% Cabernet Sauvignon. Winery Trivanović with a seat in Šid, and a tasting room in Erdevik offers Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Rose, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Chardonnay Barrique. They started their wine story sixty years ago with only a half of hectare of plantation, but today they cultivate fifty hectares of plantations.

vina vinarije “Tri međe i oblak”

vino vinarije Šijački od autohtone sorte Seduše

More to the East of Neštin there is a village Banoštor, and there is the winery Šijački. Apart from Riesling, Rhein Riesling and Chardonnaya they also offer wines with unusual names and interesting retro-labels like Neoplanta, Aldumaš and Seduša. Seduša is a folk name for the indigenous sort of red grapes, in scientific circles known as Syrmian zelenika black. It is an old forgotten wine sort which the winery owner Milan Šijački had vivified for a whole decade before he finally managed to produce enough quantity of this wine to place it to the market.

Neoplanta is a new grape sort created by blending Traminac and Smederevka at the Institute of fruit growing and viticulture in Sremski Karlovci. Aldumaš is a pure Riesling cultivated in barrique barrels, as the ancestor of the present winery owners, Milenko Bata Šijački, had done, and the label on the bottle is adorned with his image. Wine cellar Ačanski is also located in Banoštor, and it offers Italian Riesling, Chardonnay, Muskat otonel, White Bermet, Muskat Hamburg, Rose, Frankovka and Red Bermet.

Bermet in Sremski Karlovci

bermet vinarije Mrđanin

And now we have come to Bermet and slowly we are approaching the main wine centre of Vojvodina part of Syrmia – Sremski Karlovci. As it was mentioned before, there are white and red, but also rose Bermet, produced by the winery Ravnica from Inđija, which has its vineyards in the area of Stari Slankamen.

Their rose Bermet is less sweet, unlike red and white, with a certain dose of acerbity, but it has the same percentage of alcohol, even 17 percent. They put 23 sorts of grass into rose and white Bermet, and 26 into red sort.

vinogradi vinarije Vinum

When it comes to Sremski Karlovci then one must mention winery Vinum and their sort Mustra, a blend of yellow Muskat and Traminac, then winery 45 Paralela in the ownership of Dejan Grabovac and OZZ Benišek – Veselinović and their good wines, but even better brandies.

portugizac Mačkov podrum

Southern of Sremski Karlovci there is Irig where you can find the winery Mačkov podrum (wine cellar), famous for its Portuguese, and winery Kovačević, which raised its wine tourist offer to a special level. Winery Komuna from Rivice near Irig is a mutual wine project of several small wine producers which decided to go together out to the market under this name. Their sparkling wine „Penušavac“ produced on a base of Rhein Riesling with 12% alcohol, and their rose on a base of Merlot with 13% alcohol are excellent.

Atelje vina Šapat

cuvee Pi, atelje vina Šapat

In this short overview not all of the wineries in Vojvodina part of Syrmia were mentioned, but one should most certainly mention wine cellars Acumincum, Antonijević, Bajilo, Belo Brdo, Burčel Todorov, Deurić, Došen, Dulka, Kiš, Kosović, Kurilić, Kuzmanović, Milanović, Molovin, Mrđanin, Petkovica, Probus, Salaxia, Stakić, Stojković, Urošević, Veritas, Vinat, Živanović…

BRANDIES

Brandy is insufficiently valued nectar. Lately this has changed and brandy is finding its way to premium drinks, thanks to branding, marketing and rise in quality as a consequence of the fact that more and more people produce brandy, both at home and in professional distilleries. It is not my intention to insult the Scots or Irish, but can you compare barley, rye, corn and wheat with apples, plums, pears, apricots, quinces? Or can you compare cereals distillates with fruit distillates?

rakije Benišek – Veselinović

When talking about Syrmian brandies it is inevitable to mention OZZ Benišek – Veselinović from Sremski Karlovci, the only producer of brandy Bermetica in Serbia. The brandy is also produced of pear sort kaluđerka, quince, and apricot and of course, plum. Mirko Veselinović, one of the partners in this cooperative, is the owner of Rakija spirit bar in Novi Sad, and his house is one of the oldest in Sremski Karlovci. There is a cellar in front of the house where they organize wine and brandy tasting. Some other brandy producers are distilleries Kulačin, Knežević and Solarević, but there are also many other producers.