Royal Vineyards

When King Peter I Karađorđević planted vineyards on his Oplenac estate at the beginning of last century, his intention was to set a model for Serbian grape growers for the newest varieties of grape.

By Zlatica Ivković
Photo by Dragan Bosnić

Soon after ascending the throne in 1903, King Peter I Karađorđević chose terrain on top of Small Oplenac for an estate that would later become the Foundation and historicalmemorial complex of Oplenac. A mausoleum (Church of St. George) was built on wood-covered land near Petar's home, along with various villas, the Foundation House, the cellar and vineyards. The king's intention was to cultivate vineyards that would become a model to be followed by Serbian grape growers, but also as a nursery for the newest varieties of grapes then grown in Europe. Indeed, King Peter's vineyards yielded wines that were served at many European royal courts, among others in Vienna and in Paris.

The king purchased land for his vineyards from the peasants of Oplenac. Many recognised a good opportunity to sell their lands at four times the going rate, and some stubbornly persisted in their claims that disputes had to be brought to court. Thus, even today, stories are told about the time when the king was planting vineyards on his estate in Topola and wanted to buy a piece of land from a peasant so as to complete his project. Regardless of the offered price, the peasant repeated that the parcel of land was not for sale and that no money could buy it … so a quarrel ensued and the peasant brought charges against the king. The king lost the case! When the peasant received the court's decision, he presented the disputed land to his neighbor, Uncle (Čiča) Pera, actually the king.

King Peter built his cellar in 1915 at the foot of his vineyards on the eastern side of Oplenac. Unfortunately, the vintage of that war year hadn't been served at the royal table. The vineyard was revived and significantly extended during the reign of King Aleksandar who showed strong interest in vineyards. In this period, varieties from France were planted at Oplenac, high-quality sorts such as Semion, Traminac, Gamay, Chardonnay, Burgundy and other grapes.

The old cellar became too small to receive all the wine produced from the renewed vineyards, so a new cellar was built at Oplenac after the cellars in Bordeaux. The contract for a new cellar was signed with the Frankfurt firm Abel and Beringer, and in 1931 it received its first stock of bottles. The cellar contained 106 huge barrels, made both of wood and glass, with a capacity of 1000 to 4000 liters. There were six decorated carved barrels in a special room, and included among them were wedding presents from the Serbian, Croatian and Slovenian peoples. One of the most beautiful of the barrels bears the initials P. D. J., and was presented to King Peter by the son of Petar Jokić from Topola, one of the most famous heroes of the First Serbian Uprising. On the rim of the barrel are verses that say "He who doesn't know how to drink red wine cannot be a hero."

Wines intended for stock were kept in bottles with the royal insignia. The preserved wine archive contains royal documents that order "up to 100 bottles of wine not intended for sale but for history" be kept in the cellar, as well as thirty bottles for special occasions that were put away in 1931 and contained Oplenka, Žilavka, Triumph, Hamburg and Riesling.

Though these barrels remained empty for several decades, the wine tradition of Oplenac was resumed by the Aleksandrović Cellar from Oplenac, in the village of Vinča. The Cellar is famous for its "Triumph" wine produced according to the original recipe from the Royal Cellar of the Karađorđević Family. The recipe for "Triumph", the best wine produced in the royal cellars, was a secret that the chief cellar keeper Živko Tadić took with him when he emigrated. When Tadić learned that the grandson of his friend Božidar Aleksandrović had resumed viticulture in the Oplenac region, he sent him the handwritten "Triumph" recipe on 100 pages. Though the recipe remains a secret, we do know that the best Serbian wine is produced through a blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Riesling.

"Currently the Foundation winery (the King's Cellar built in 1931 with old but preserved equipment), is under reconstruction and renovation. The equipment and devices for production will be exhibited as a part of a museum display, as they must be replaced with modern equipment for production, but all the utensils for storing and maturing wine (the king's barrels and vessels) will be restored and returned to function as unique museum rarities.

"The special museum attractions are the oldest barrels from this cellar, personal gifts to King Peter in 1909, and barrels from 1922, which were wedding gifts to King Aleksandar. The Museum holds the largest and the oldest Serbian wine archive, with several hundred original bottles dating from 1931 to 1957", says Miladin Gavrilović, manager of the King Peter I Karađorđević Foundation.

There were more than 150,000 grapevines on the slopes of Oplenac in the 1930s, and their number grew annually. On the eve of the Second World War, grapevines covered the surface of 37 hectares and 12 additional hectares were purchased for additional planting. And just as King Peter had planed, vines were distributed and vineyards planted throughout Serbia according to the Oplenac model.

The royal vineyards were mostly cultivated varieties of white grape and produced white wines. Grape for red wine, which was processed in Oplenac, were mostly brought from the royal estate in Demir Kapija. Though "Triumph" stood out among the wines produced by the royal cellar, Oplenka, Žilavka and Rose were not inferior to it in quality.

After the Second World War, the Oplenac vineyards were neglected and some parcels were not cultivated at all. From the endless vineyards only two grapevines remained in the yard of the royal vineyards; thouse planted by the King himself. It is interesting that these, one white Burgundy and one Hamburg, still bear fruit.

For years, indifference towards what was once the most beautiful vineyard complex in Serbia resulted in the wild growth of wood and weed. Although the ownership issue was still unresolved, the King I Foundation resumed its original mission and, in order to stop further decay, resumed work on part of the property that used to serve as the vineyard complex and winery – the Royal Cellar. Explaining the current doings in the Oplenac vineyards, Mr. Gavrilović says:

– Since 2002 we have been cultivating three to five hectares of land annually. In 2004, the first grapevine was planted, the Sauvignon Blanc variety, on a parcel of land with a surface area of 3.2 hectares. As it was during the era of King Peter and later King Aleksandar, the grapevine is of the highest-quality, imported form well-known European nurseries. This one comes from Italian winegrower Vivai cooperativi Rauscedo. The vineyards plan, planting and supervision of vines and the professional agro-techniques of modern viniculture have been assigned to the professors of the Agricultural Faculty in Zemun.

Now in its third year, this grapevine has yielded very good results. The first wines from the revived Royal Vineyards for visitors to Oplenac will be offered for tasting in spring 2007. The Foundation expects the first commercial wine production in 2008, when the Royal Foundation Winery will be completely reconstructed and equipped with the latest technical equipment. Until then, grape processing will be conducted Aleksandrović Cellar winery in the village of Vinča, near Topola, which currently has the best technology in Serbia.