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Monday, 15 March 2010



Fake Tikvesh Wine Intended for Import from Kosovo to Macedonia



Balkan Travellers   

28 February 2008 | Four tanks filled with draft wine for the needs of Macedonia’s Tikvesh winery are waiting to be imported from Kosovo, the Macedonian daily Vecher reported. The incident embarrasses the Tikvesh winery, which is not only one of the country’s biggest wine exporters, but is also known as the producer of Macedonia’s best wines.

The wine was reportedly of the smederevka type, which is used by the winery for making white wine and is one of the two most popular grape varieties.

Vecher reported that representatives of the winery unofficially confirmed the news, but claimed that the import consisted of wine residual that is used for the production of hard liquor.

Macedonian authorities from the food safety directorate said they will perform additional checks to find out what the wine will be used for.

The Tikvesh winery is based in the town of Kavadarci in the central part of Macedonia. It claims that it is the largest winery not only on the Balkans but also in all of South-Eastern Europe.

It grows 30 grape varieties and, beside the smederevka, its other most popular grape kind is kratošija, used for making red wine. Tikvesh processes up to 55 million kilograms of grapes and produces about 35 million litres of 24 different types of wine each year, according to the winery’s website.

For now there have been no reported complaints from wine tasters and connoisseurs about the Tikvesh wine and it remains among the mandatory wines ordered in Skopje’s restaurants, known for their excellent cuisine.

Read more about the wine region of Tikvesh in Macedonia.
Read more about Macedonia on BalkanTravellers.com
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