Bela Voda red wine - Tikves promotes wine officially rated by critics as one of world's top wines

The first wine from the territory of former Yugoslavia was bottled at Macedonia's Tikves winery. The Macedonian winery was also the first to put a label on the bottle, and its new wine has recently earned the highest ratings ever for a wine from ex-Yugoslav states.

At yesterday's ceremony in Belgrade, Tikves presented Bela Voda 2010, an exclusive red wine whose quality is confirmed by the fact that it has scored 94 out of 100 points on the famous Parker's scale. In that way, it is rated as one of the top wines in the world and the most prestigious wine in the region because it is the first wine from Macedonia to have been assessed by such important wine critic and the only wine from this region to win so many points.

The official presentation of this wine in Serbia was also attended by Philippe Cambie, one of the world's top five enologists and a co-creator of the red wine Bela Voda 2010.

(Philippe Cambie)

- The wines made by Tikves represent a really pleasant surprise, which is why my work on the creation of a line of terroir wines, including Bela Voda 2010, was a great pleasure and unique experience. What inspires me and what I have dedicated my whole life to is to find local, autochtonous sorts featuring the best characteristics of the area they come from in order to make world-class wines. Thanks to the use of innovative technologies, this wine has all characteristics of the area of Bela Voda from which it originates - said Philippe Cambie.

Wine that brings luck

The red wine Bela Voda 2010 is a unique blend of sorts Vranac (30%) and Plavac (70%). It represents a small part of the recently launched line of exclusive terroir wines. Only 16,000 bottles of this wine are available in Serbia, Macedonia and the USA.

As Tikves Serbia Director General Aleksandar Kokir said to eKapija, this wine and its high ratings have opened the door of the U.S. market to the winery.

(Aleksandar Kokir and Lead Enologist Marko Stojakovic)

The wine was named Bela Voda after the location-vineyard it originates from.

Quickest-growing winery

Tikves Serbia Director General says that Tikves is the quickest-growing winery in our country. It currently ranks fourth in market share, closely behind three domestic wineries. It is also the largest "foreign" winery in Serbia.

When asked how the opening of so many wineries in Serbia over the last few years affected the operations of Tikves, Aleksandar Kokir told eKapija the following:

- Despite that, we grow. Tikves' sales have risen 80%. The new wineries are mainly small and have no capacity for bigger production, which is why they have to offer competitive prices. However, that is not sustainable in a long run.

Jelena Djelic