[wzslider]By Harriet Crawford
Sarajevo was dark and thundery. But everyone told me not to worry, ‘Herzegovina is always sunny’. Sun and wine was what we were after. Herzegovina, BiH’s staggeringly beautiful southern region, was bathed in golden light. If you venture beyond Mostar, on the road to Trebinje, the sun will flicker on the sharp drops of red from the poppies along the roadside. You’ll crane your neck to catch a ruined castle atop a scrubby hill; admire the elegant Cyprus trees; and be surprised by the vivid pink flower of a thistle. A cow with a glinting bell around its neck may lumber across the road. And as you approach a flat river valley, your eyes will likely fall from the distant blue mountains (Montenegro, apparently) to the vineyards below.
Herzegovina is BiH’s main wine-producing region. The current scale of wine production in the country is tiny. Of the number of households – 11,000 – producing grapes for wine, fewer than 200 produce grapes on more than two hectares of land, according to the BiH Agency of Statistics. But this has been rising steadily since 2005. In 2010, the sector was valued at KM 59 million (approximately €30 million).
The majority of production is high quality rather than lower-quality booze that is targeted at the mass market. You can happily drench yourself in Žilavka – the white grape this region is known for – as well as sun for days by visiting the wonderful wineries. Vukoje matures its award-winning wines in barrels eight meters below ground (the depth ensures a stable temperature) in their cavernous cellar. Nuić, another prominent vineyard is developing its position beautifully and on a grand scale. Both will offer you irresistible smoked meats, local cheeses and bread to munch as you sip.
In western Herzegovina, you should seek out the ‘moonwalker’. This biodynamic wine produced by Brkić according to the lunar cycle, seems apt for the astral landscape the wine relies on. Grapes are each, individually, plopped into an oak barrel, in which they will ferment for nine months. The resulting sediments shift with the moon, requiring but a few stirs from the devoted makers. They only produce three barrels of this distinctive natural wine a year.
Sun and wine – as well as unexpectedly stellar landscapes – was what we found in Herzegovina, as promised.
