25th International Wine Fair in Temerin
A BIG BLESSING FOR THE MONASTERY OF ĐURĐEV STUPOVA IN RAS – The Merlot Barik wine from the 2021 vintage received the Great Gold Medal, and that’s exactly from the 850th jubilee year since the founding of the monastery (1171-2021)
Stupovi Winery – The Đurđevi Stupovi Monastery Winery in Ras won five awards at the jubilee event
25th International January Wine Fair in Temerin – the largest wine fair in Serbia, and in terms of the number of samples, one of the largest events of its kind in Europe.
613 exhibitors from six countries from the region (Slovakia, Croatia, Montenegro, Romania, Hungary and Serbia) participated. The wines were evaluated by 78 international judges.
The Stupovi Winery received the largest number of awards: a large gold medal for the Merlot barrique from 2021 (jury rating 95.8 out of a maximum of 97 points), two gold medals for Cabernet Sauvignon from 2021 and 2022 and two bronze medals for Tamjanika and White Sauvignon .
If we are looking for the cause of the high quality of our wines, we will waste time in vain wandering around the country, although it has also been carefully analyzed. The most beautiful plots as well as grape varieties were selected. The soil is stony but loose enough that the roots of the vine penetrate easily and are well established. The mineral composition is ideal, the southern exposure along with the east-west orientation and the large slope of the vineyard allows sunshine throughout the day. The natural rarity of a volcanic elevation whose peak is 800 meters above sea level. dominated by the monastery as well as an almost equal distance from the significantly higher peaks of Golija, Only God can give Kopaonik, Rogozna, Mokra Gora, Hajla and Pešter. Mists descend below monasteries and vineyards, and sharp frosts are attracted by high mountain peaks. While Deževska kotlina and Novi Pazar are in the fog, the monastery and vineyards are bathed in the sun, which very often leads to the phenomenon of temperature inversion when it is warmer on the top of the monastery elevation than in the valleys.
All this makes a wonderful micro-climate that does not exist in our area. But even all this is not enough for top quality wine.
To understand the secret of the top quality of wine is possible only with refined spiritual senses that suggest to us that we should go back to the distant past where the root cause is found.
The cultivation of vines was recorded as early as the 12th century, when the great prefect Stefan Nemanja (St. Simeon Mirotočivi) founded his first royal endowment in the middle of Ras, not far from his court in Deževa, and donated large estates to it. Crown estates were also visited by his descendants St. Sava and St. King Stefan the First Crowned, and later the Holy Kings Radoslav, Vladislav, Uroš I, Dragutin and Milutin. The cultivation of vines developed during the time of Saint Dragutin (who, as the second founder, was buried in the monastery) but also later throughout the Middle Ages until 1690. when the monastery was abandoned. Traces of ancient vineyards could be found in some vines hidden in the vegetation, which patiently waited for new monks to come over the centuries.
Just as the monastery was built by God’s revelation, Saint Simeon Mirotočivi, praying fervently to his patron Saint George, so the first vineyard planted by the hand of Nemanjić on this Holy land carried the blessing of God’s guests. Guided by this knowledge, the current abbot, Proto-Sinđel Gavrilo (Božinović), received a vision but also a great desire, and in 2011. plant the first cuttings. In this way, after the year 321, he restored the vineyard and wine production on the crown property of Nemanjić, where the original vineyards were. A drop of today’s wine contains as a secret ingredient all the past centuries and the blessings of those who founded and restored
the oldest Nemanjic ruler’s Imperial Lavra, the Đurđeve Stupov monastery in Stari Ras.
In the initial phase of the vineyard formation in 2011, during the selection of plots and selection of varieties, father Gavrilo consulted with the greatest experts in this field in Serbia, but also with his grandfather Vlastimir Božinović, who spent his entire life in the Rajac vineyard in the village of Lužnice, which located between Kragujevac and Topola. He followed his grandfather’s wise advice to first do a trial planting for fear of frost, and then to plant the varieties that performed best. He chose agronomist Mrs. Anka Mijailović and Mrs. Milijan Radovanović. The first works in the vineyard were carried out by the brothers of the monastery (hieromonk Gavrilo and monk Georgije with the help of the hardworking hands of Mr. Rastko Tanasković – Ralet and Mr. Ljubomir Puzović – Ljuba. Initially, 1000 seedlings of various varieties were planted as a trial gift from Mr. Živko Isailović from Milutovac, and then a vineyard was formed from the varieties that performed best.
The first harvest was in 2015, and the wine was ceremoniously stored in the highest quality oak barrels that were a gift from the Radovanović winery. Later, by expanding the vineyard, Mr. Boban Cvetić, who becomes the director of Stupovi Winery. His arrival brings a new quality to the entire process of wine production, which results in a very quick but also expected award at the first participation of Stupovi Winery in a competition.
The wines can be of high quality, the winery can be exclusively decorated, but without the climate, a team of expert people who are ready to cooperate, many years of patient work with a lot of love and, most importantly, God’s blessing, there is no ultimate success.
The monastery is grateful to God, Saint George and Saint Nemanjići, but on this occasion it also thanks everyone who contributed to the renewal of production, today we can safely say, one of the best quality
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