In terms of latitude and climate, the Serbian wine region of Župa is strikingly similar to the French region of Bordeaux and the Napa Valley region of California. Overall, the region has a temperate Mediterranean climate with mild, wet winters and warm, dry summers. While much of the Balkan Peninsula has mountainous terrain, Serbia’s southern wine region of Župa grows vines in an undulating hillscape where many vineyards boast a southern or southeastern exposure. Here, the soil has a good limestone content mixed with silty-loam.
All this being said, it should come as no surprise, then, that the wines of Župa have had a storied and regal past. The region was first mentioned in the 1196 Charter of Studenica monastery which was written by Prince, or Župan, Stefan Nemanja and it gave the monastery an allotment of vineyard area as laid out by the Župan. Over the ensuing years, other Serbian Župan were so enamored with the wines of the area that they established vineyards here as well. Because of its royal attention, the region became known as the Župa, and, today, it is known for its cultivation of Prokupac and Tamjanika.
