Viticulture in Montenegro has a future because we produce quality wines, said Kristina Roganović from Keković Winery in the show Takulin, written by Bojan Vučinić, on Gradska RTV. As she stated, our country is a good climate for the production of red, and in recent years we have had a trend of producing white and rosé wine, so even there we can compete with some recognizable wines.
Wine tourism has started to develop in Montenegro, and agritourism has been gaining momentum in recent years, said Roganović.
– We export more wine than we import thanks to a large wine company. Small winemakers find it difficult to find a way to the foreign market because they do not do enough marketing – said Roganović and added that it is better to satisfy our market and not go abroad if we do not have such quantities as surplus.
Ten years ago, he explains, there were not this many wineries, so we have made a huge progress.
– Now we have 100 wine producers in Montenegro and about 300 grape growers. Viticulture is the branch that, in my opinion, depends the most on luck. When it comes to smaller producers, it is a capacity of 20 to 50,000 bottles, and those small wineries have their own quality, and the biggest challenge is to maintain it – Roganović believes.
Also, as he says, there are a lot of projects to which he can apply and participate, but the disadvantage of those projects is that they last a long time and that the winery or the founder needs to participate with 40-50%.
– This is a problem with our budget and the progress of viticulture – points out Roganović.
The problem of manpower arises during the pruning of the vineyard and the grape harvest.
– Our winery has enough workers for production itself, but the period of grape harvesting and vineyard pruning, which officially begins today, is a problem. A larger workforce and more people are needed to get involved, and it is difficult to find professional people who will do it in the right way – said Roganović.
Viticulture, he adds, is not a profession that he could see and recognize in a large number of people, but there is a certain number of people who are interested in it.
– Wine is the most civilized thing. There is no good wine without good raw materials. That is why it is necessary to fulfill every segment of production, from vineyard maintenance, grape harvesting, silting, i.e. starting alcoholic fermentation, to storing and aging the wine itself. If all that is fulfilled, we must get a quality product – concluded Roganović.
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