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Seven wineries at National booth on Wine Paris 2025 / Masterclass around the „Black Stallion“ Vranec on February 10
Although North Macedonia is exporting its powerful wines to 40 different countries and winning more than 100 medals every year in the most prestigeuos competitions in the world, the country in the heart of the Balkans still is not known as well as it deserves internationally. To change this, „Wines of Macedonia“ will be present at Wine Paris 2025 with a National booth for the first time. Seven top wineries will showcase their products led by the invincible Vranec or „Black Stallion“ – a red, inky wine full of character and depth which stands for the untamed wilderness of the Balkans. On February 10, the wine journalist and Southeastern Europe expert Thomas Brandl will take people interested to learn and taste something new by the hand in his masterclass at 10.00 at hall 4 (room 2) on a journey through the rugged mountains and valleys of North Macedonia.
Amongst the seven wineries being present in Paris, there are big producers like Tikveš and Stobi and small and medium size ones, as Chateau Kamnik, Lazar, Popov or Monteko & Chateau Rizov, real newbees. All these wineries stand for premium wines with strong character. Especially Vranec is easy to detect amongst others: deep purple colour, black berries fruit, notes of spices and dark chocolate, firm tannins and fresh acidity, often coming with 15 degrees of alcohol or even more. No doubt: Vranec is the star in North Macedonia – but with Kratoshija, Temjanika, Stanushina, Smederevka & Co. there are many other indigenous grape varieties waiting to be discovered.
The Republic of North Macedonia may be a young country that only emerged in 1991 after the breakup of Yugoslavia, but it has a long history. Archaeological findings show that the ancient European civilisation flourished in Macedonia between 7000 and 3500 BC. The Macedonians were ethnically, linguistically and culturally distinct from their neighbours – the wine-making tradition of the ‘Pearl of the Balkans’ goes back well over 4,000 years.
However, North Macedonia is still one of the last undiscovered wine countries in Europe: a natural paradise of 28,000 hectares of vineyards, 34 mountains higher than 2.000 meters, 53 lakes and many rivers, in which life has a different rhythm. From Skopje to Veles, Negotino, Kavadarci and Demir Kapija, as well as Gevgelija on the border with Greece, the roads are lined with wine-growing districts and numerous wineries that authentically narrate the thousands of years of history that are inseparable from these areas.
