Wine
Focus
The working group on wine has been supported by German expertise since 2018 as part of the BMEL's BKP. Initially, the focus was on harmonizing the respective national wine legislation with EU wine legislation. This included aspects such as geographical designations of origin, effective control standards and farm registers.
The working group has been part of the APD since 2021. Since then, new topics such as wine tourism and sustainability have also been included. Since 2023, variety trials with fungus-resistant grape varieties (Piwis), which are considered the most promising approach to reducing the use of pesticides in viticulture, have been supported. For this purpose, Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia were each supplied with seven new German varieties, which are planted in trial fields at participating universities and research institutions. Moreover, four virus-tested rootstocks each were provided for the establishment of virus-free mother gardens.
Activities
- Regular meetings of the working group in the region, in June 2024 for the first time also in Moldova
- Implementation of two study trips to Germany with visits to ProWein in Düsseldorf (the industry's leading international trade fair), innovative production companies, wine laboratories, state training centers and leading research institutions such as Hochschule Geisenheim University
- Implementation of digital seminars on selected topics and an online wine tasting of autochthonous grape varieties from the Western Balkans during the COVID-19 pandemic
- In 2024, a Summer School on Wine was organized for the first time in Skopje, North Macedonia, for more than 30 course participants from the seven project countries on wine marketing and tourism, challenges of climate change in viticulture and oenology as well as wine styles and grape varieties of the region.
Results
- Extensive harmonization of wine law in the participating project countries/territories with EU standards
- Further development and registration of historical PDO/PGI areas in the EU
- Exemplary stock analyses in the vine stocks of Kosovo concerning harmful viral diseases, followed by exports of adaptive, virus-free rootstocks
- Participation in the regional trade fair for wine culture in the region "Wine Vision by Open Balkan" in Belgrade, Serbia, 2023
Publications
- Report for the Viticulture and Wine Sector for the Western Balkans
- State of the Art of the Viticulture and Wine Sector for the Western Balkans
- Analysis on Important Participants in the Viticulture and Winemaking Sector of the Western Balkans
- Analysis of Wine Sector Production, with a Comparative Overview of Conventional and Organic Production in the Western Balkans
Further information
Further information and presentations from the working group meetings can be found here.