The geographical centre of Serbia was also at the forefront of the renais- sance for Serbian wine, with the town of Topola located just 80 km south of Belgrade. This region is surrounded by rivers on all sides, while its vines grow on an undulating landscape of mild valleys over ancient volcanic bedrock, with mountain breezes that bring cool nights. Wine has been produced here since Roman times, but the area on- ly flourished when Karađorđe built his royal cellar on Oplenac. The ancient Romans gave the name Vincea to the neighbouring village of Vinča and Oplenac Hill, in recognition of the qual- ity wine produced from its extremely tasty and fragrant grapes, and grapes and wine continue to be symbols of every village in this area. That’s also why this region proudly bears the title of the capital of the Serbian grapevine. The Oplenac Harvest, a rich festival in honour of wine, was established dur- ing the time of Prince Aleksandar and is still traditionally held each October. Karađorđe himself established pro- ductive vineyards on the slopes clos- er to the top of Oplenac. Old docu- ments dating back to the time of the Serbian Uprising testify that the vine- yards in the fields of Topola were so productive that there wasn’t enough space to store the wealth of grapes and wine. However, the real flourishing of the Oplenac vineyards only began with the arrival in these parts of King Peter I. He ordered the construction of a small cellar, where grapes were pro- cessed until the beginning of World War I. Gradually emerging here were the famous wines Triumf, Oplenka, Žilavka and Rosé, while the royal vine- yard became a nursery of high-quali- ty varieties. These wines were served during the official visits of European rulers, but they also found their way to the tables of foreign courts. This re- gion is particularly renowned for its white wines, while it is also a good area for producing Merlot, Bordeaux blends and, more recently, good Prokupac grapes. What to visit Topola first rose to prominence dur- ing the First Serbian Uprising. On the eve of the uprising of 1804, the lead-
Šumadija Geografski centar Srbije je takođe predvodnik srpskog vinskog preporo- da, sa Topolom koja se nalazi samo 80 km južno od Beograda. Reke okružuju region sa svih strana, a vinova loza ra- ste na talasastom pejzažu plitkih do- lina zasnovanih na drevnoj vulkanskoj podlozi, sa planinskim povetarcem ko- ji donosi hladne noć i. Vina je ovde bilo još od vremena Rimljana, ali je kraj pro- cvetao kada je Karađorđe podigao kra- ljevski podrum na Oplencu. Stari Ri- mljani su susednom selu Vinča i bregu u nastavku Oplenca nadenuli ime Vin- cea po kvalitetnom vinu koje se dobija- lo od izrazito ukusnog i mirisnog grož- đa, a grožđe i vino i danas predstavljaju simbol svakog sela ove oblasti. Stoga ovaj kraj s ponosom krasi titula presto- nice srpskih čokota. Od vremena kne- za Aleksandra ustanovljena je Ople- načka berba, bogata svetkovina u čast vina, koja se i danas tradicionalno odr- žava u oktobru.
zvaničnih poseta evropskih vladara, ali su našla i svoj put do trpeze stranih dvorova. Region je posebno poznat po belim vinima, a takođe je dobar teren za merlo, bordo mešavine i odnedav- no, dobar prokupac. Šta posetiti Topola je prvi uzlet doživela u vreme Prvog srpskog ustanka. Vođa revolu- cije 1804. godine Karađorđe Petrović, rođen u obližnjem selu Viševcu, nasta- nio se uoči ustanka u neposrednoj bli- zini varoši, u zaseoku Krćevac. Postav- ši vrhovni vožd, Karađorđe je od Topole napravio svoju prestonicu i centar dr- žavnog života oslobođene Srbije. No- vi blistavi trenutak ovaj kraj će dožive- ti usponom Karađorđevog sina, kneza Aleksandra, koji je s posebnom pa- žnjom obnovio očeve vinograde i voć- njake na istočnim padinama Oplenca. Dolaskom Kralja Petra I na vlast, 1903. godine, Topola kao zavičaj Karađorđe- vića beleži novi period procvata, a kralj se ubrzo u potpunosti posvetio ispu- njenju amaneta svojih roditelja da se u
Još je Karađorđe na padinama bliže vr- hu Oplenca zasnovao plodonosne vi- nograde. Stari dokumenti iz vremena ustaničke Srbije svedoče da su vino- gradi u atarima Topole tako dobro ra- đali, da se nije imalo gde smestiti obi- lje grožđa i vina. Ipak će pravi procvat oplenačkog vinogorja otpočeti tek do- laskom kralja Petra Prvog u ove kra- jeve. On je dao da se sazida mali po- drum, gde je sve do početka Prvog svetskog rata prerađivano grožđe. Vremenom su nastala poznata vina tri- jumf, oplenka, žilavka i roze, a kraljev- ski vinograd postao rasadnik kvalitet- nih sorti. Ova vina su se služila prilikom
Serbia » Srbija | 89
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator