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 as well as vineyard registers and cellar bookkeeping. 

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, cultivation 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 trail 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, since 2024 also in Moldova
• Implementation of 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. Videos are available here.
• 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.
• A continuation of the summer school series is planned with an online seminar on climate adaptation. 

Results

• Extensive harmonization of wine law in the participating project countries/territories with EU standards
• Further development and registration of historical and new PDO/PGI areas in the EU
• Exemplary stock analyses in the vine stocks of Kosovo concerning harmful viral diseases, followed by exports of adaptive (regarding drought stress and highly calcareous soils), virus-free rootstocks for cultivation trails
• Participation in the regional trade fairs
• Participation and presentation of Balkan wines at OIV World Congress of Vine and Wine