Eastern Promises: The Potential Future for Wine Tourism in the Balkans

Abstract

The Balkan countries have become a new focus for international wine writers. The dozen nations that lie totally or partially within the Balkan Peninsula are culturally and politically diverse, but all share in a millennia-old love of wine and its production. More than 400 autochthonous varieties of wine grapes are grown on the peninsula. Some, such as Plavac Mali, Zelenac and Vranac are basically unknown in the rest of the world but produce fine wine in most of the Balkan nations. There would appear to be an immense potential for greater development of wine tourism in the region, which with time could become a boon to its new market-based economies. This paper, based on visits to Balkan wineries and interviews with wine makers, academics and other leaders in the wine and wine tourism industries, is a survey of the present tourism infrastructures, the wine trade organizations and regional wine histories. It explores the capacity of wine industries to develop tourism as a component of their operations. In the end, suggestions are made that may help develop the Balkans as an international wine destination.

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