Stobi Winery

It has over 600 ha of land and produces up to 4.5 million bottles of wine per year from Riesling, Chardonnay, Muscat Ottonel for whites and Pinot Noir, Vranec, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Shiraz for reds. Stobi was a huge cooperative when purchased by the Jordanova family and is part of the upswing in fortunes in North Macedonian wine production. It was the first winery in North Macedonia to start producing wine from its own grapes. Grapes are picked by hand to keep with the old traditions, but once the wine gets to the winery, it’s all about a modern hightech system of production. There are more than 280 sunny days in this part of North Macedonia, with a very hot summer that has a wind that protects the grapes from disease. Their vineyards are 25 to 40 years old depending on the grape. Stobi like to champion the indigenous grapes Vranec and Zilavka, Smederevka and the Georgian grape Rkatsiteli and produces more than 25 different labels. Other white varieties include Temjanika, Chardonnay, Zupljanka, Muscat Ottonel and Riesling. Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Petit Verdot, Syrah and Prokupec make up the majority of the black grapes. They divide their wine into four different categories: ‘premium’, ‘classic’, ‘elite’ and ‘traditional’. The winery can produce five million litres, of which 220,000 litres are aged in oak barrels.