Matalj Winery

Nikola Mladenović Matalj from Negotin started to write his wine story at the beginning of the 2000s. He is a representative of the new generation of Serbian winemakers, an expert, and enthusiast. The Mladenovićs family started the winery, which produces about 75,000 bottles a year today, as a family business (and named it after a ""family"" nickname), deciding to renovate a neglected vineyard on Kremenjača Hill in 2004. They planted new vine varieties, primarily Cabernet Sauvignon, invested in equipment and - set off on an adventure. Matalj Winery listens to tradition and relies on it, but with a good knowledge of modern opportunities and trends. With modern production process, the use of science and technological innovations, marketing, customer relations and sales planning ... ""Winemaking today and 50 years ago, cannot be the same."" In the easternmost part of Serbia, on the border with Bulgaria and Romania, nature has given winemakers what they love most - the sun, the sun and the sun. From Negotinska Krajina, located between the mountains Miroč, Crni vrh and Deli Jovan, bordered by the Danube and Timok rivers, in the old SFR Yugoslavia only the island of Hvar had more sunny days a year. The specific microclimate, which is carefully preserved by mountain massifs and two rivers, provides conditions that since the time of the Romans, people have lived in this area with grapes and wine. According to old documents, Krajina has always suplied Europe with wine and made good money from it. They experienced a golden age in the middle of the 19th century, at a time when phylloxera was devastating French vineyards. History records that in 1887, more than 2 million liters were exported from the customs house in Radujevac to Bordeaux alone, which the French paid with golden ""Napoleons"". The Kremen is today the most valued and best-selling Matalj wine. Already famous and decorated with medals, Kremen has become a new synonym for good Negotin red wines, and has given additional confirmation that Krajina is a region with excellent conditions for the Cabernet Sauvignon variety. Among other awards, Kremen won the Grand Prix for the best wine in Serbia for two consecutive years, in 2013 and 2014. Matalj owns a total of 30 hectares under vines, in three locations, in three different vineyards of Negotin (out of a total of 5, which exists in this area).