2023-10-13 17:42:00
Arid karst soil and a scorching sun: the tough Zilavka and the capricious Blatina are the queens of a small terroir in southern Bosnia-Herzegovina, where winegrowers go out of their way to be discreet and win prizes with these two indigenous grape varieties, in combining tradition and new techniques.
At 77 years old, Grgo Vasilj observes the crushing of the generous dark blue clusters of Blatina, just picked from one of his vineyards, near Medjugorje, a small village known worldwide since the 1980s for its Marian sanctuary.
His family farms plots of 22 hectares. The Zilavka (white) and Blatina (black) grape varieties are dominant, but Grgo Vasilj and his son Andrija, who takes over, also have Cabernet Sauvignon, a black grape variety of French origin, to try blending with local varieties. .
Three of their wines won gold medals in June at the Decanter World Wine Awards in London, one of the largest wine competitions in the world.
“I am the fifth generation, my son the sixth and his son the seventh,” says the winegrower, father of five daughters and a son, happy to see “the uninterrupted lineage”.
The winery that bears his name is modern, but the Vasiljs have been producing grape juice since the mid-19th century. He himself has spent his entire life in the vineyards – since he was three, he says.
“A good wine is made from good grapes. That has always been our motto. Now there is also technology,” says Grgo Vasilj, whose annual production amounts to between 80,000 and 100,000 bottles, 90% of which are sold. in restaurants across the country.
“We take from technology what we consider essential, but being careful not to spoil what God has already given, what is in the grapes.” The possibility of controlling the fermentation temperature during harvests in high heat is, however, very useful.
Capricious
Its labels are all stamped “Carska vina” (“The wines of the emperors”), a nod to the court of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, of which Bosnia-Herzegovina was part of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. century, and who, it is said, appreciated Zilavka.
With an annual production of 18 million liters of wine, on less than 4,000 ha of vineyards, Bosnia-Herzegovina is a dwarf on a global scale – its production represents around 0.4% of France’s production in comparison. Almost all of the 70 registered producers are located in Herzegovina, a geographical region in the south of the country.
5 kilometers from Medjugorje, Jure Susac, 69, cultivates 2.5 ha of vines in the village of Cerno. He planted the first ones in the early 1980s, and bought a first 300 liter barrel. “I thought this first wine would never go away, but the barrel quickly emptied,” says the winemaker at the end of a day of Zilavka harvests at the end of September.
In recent years, he has also bought grapes from several nearby winegrowers and produces around 30,000 liters of white and 20,000 liters of red per year. Rosé too.
A good part of it is sold in Croatia, the regional wine leader, where it wins prizes. The rest he sells “practically on the doorstep”, during visits to the cellar. “But the demand is such that I intend to increase production.”
“Zilavka thrives in fairly dry conditions, in very poor, arid karst soils, while Blatina thrives in soil richer in earth,” explains Jure Susac. Both varieties need little water, but giving them once or twice a season, when temperatures approach 50°C, has proven crucial.
It is said that Zilavka owes its name to its capacity for resistance: the word “zilav” in South Slavic languages means “resistant” or “tough”. Blatina could come from the word “blato”, which means mud. More fragile and capricious, the vine may produce nothing if it is disturbed by rain during flowering.
“That’s why we also call it +Praznobacva+ (+Empty barrel+)”, laughs Grgo Vasilj.
13/10/2023 17:41:23 – Medjugorje (Bosnia-Herzegovina) (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
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