The famous Marcus Aurelius Probus, the emperor born in Srem, as recorded in the Roman chronicle Historia Augusta, passed a decree in the 3rd century allowing the first vineyard outside the Apennine Peninsula in the Roman Empire to be planted on Fruška Gora.
Roman emperors – as we know – did not engage in agriculture, and neither did the famous Marcus Aurelius Probus, the emperor born in Srem. However, we often hear about him planting the first vineyard on Fruška Gora, quite personally. There is some truth in that legend, because Probus, as recorded in the Roman chronicle Historia Augusta, passed a decree in the 3rd century allowing the first vineyard outside the Apennine Peninsula in the Roman Empire to be planted on Fruška Gora. Today we ask ourselves: what variety could it have been? Tamjanika – a muscat that spread from the Mediterranean and the Aegean islands at that time, as popular then as it is today? Or maybe Grašac, a variety that was first mentioned in history on Fruška Gora, in the herbarium of Andrej Volni? Maybe Gouais Blanc, originally from the Balkans and the ancestor of the most famous European varieties, including Chardonnay, Smederevka, Furmint and Riesling? Or something unknown to us today?
We can only guess and enjoy the stories about the ancient tradition of wine production in Serbia, while enjoying authentic wines from the old varieties of our climate.
We can start our journey through time with tamjanika, a local expression of the variety spread all over the world under the name Muscat White, which is produced in Serbia as a dry, fresh and aromatic wine – unlike other wine regions of the world, where it is usually sweet.
We should certainly jump back to the 18th century, when in Iskusni podrumar, the first book on wine in Serbian, Zaharije Orfelin wrote down the recipe for the famous bermet, an aromatic sweet wine that is still a source of pride in today’s Sremski Karlovci.
The ideal continuation would be grašac white, the sovereign king of Fruška Gora and present in many vineyards in Serbia and the entire Danube basin. These are characteristic, juicy wines full of ripe fruit and the scents of pollen and herbs, making them an excellent companion to food.
A gentle, elegant and seductive red wine produced from the Skadarka variety, also known as Kadarka, would be excellent to continue our journey through the old varieties. With their transparent colours, refined aromas of ripe cherries and plums, and silky noble taste, wines from this noble variety arriving – as tradition says – from the vicinity of Shkoder are perfect as an accompaniment to lighter meat or mushroom dishes.
Prokupac would be a logical continuation. Blackberry, cherry, cranberry, pepper and spices dominate its character. Its firm tannin grip on the palate calls for a good bite, so Prokupac wines – a variety deeply rooted in Serbia’s wine identity – are an ideal pairing for grilled meat.
We could end the trip with something sweet and for that, we should certainly jump back to the 18th century, when in Iskusni podrumar, the first book on wine in Serbian, Zaharije Orfelin wrote down the recipe for the famous bermet, an aromatic sweet wine that is still a source of pride in today’s Sremski Karlovci.