IN BRIEF
- Prokupac represents a geographic and identity-based miracle, becoming a symbol of Serbian wine.
- Its history includes a qualitative transition, moving from more structured wines to elegant, contemporary expressions.
- Prokupac Day highlighted the grape’s recent transformations, involving several wineries and promoting the variety on the domestic market.
- New viticultural techniques and attention to balance are crucial, especially in a changing climate context.
- Prokupac has the potential to establish itself internationally with an authentic and innovative identity.
Prokupac is Serbia’s double national miracle. The first miracle is geographic and identity-based: a grape historically rooted in the south of the country has managed to conquer other wine regions, becoming the symbol of wine Serbia on the international stage. The second miracle is enological: Prokupac has managed to reinvent its own style. Moving from a pursuit of alcohol, concentration, and structure to remarkably contemporary interpretations.
Wines capable of competing for elegance and refinement with the great reds of the world’s most prestigious appellations. This was confirmed by Prokupac Day 2026, held in Belgrade on October 14. The eleventh edition of the Salon Prokupca brought together thirty wineries at the historic residence of Princess Ljubica, offering an overview of the transformations that have affected Serbia’s main native red grape variety.
FROM SOUTHERN SERBIA TO NATIONAL IDENTITY
Prokupac’s roots lie mainly in the areas of Toplica and Župa Aleksandrovačka. From here, cultivation gradually spread to Šumadija and other regions of the country. A geographic expansion accompanied by a profound transformation of its productive role.
As Winemag already reported in the article dedicated to Prokupac Day 2025, in the 1970s the variety occupied about 60% of Serbia’s vineyard area. By 2024 its share had dropped to 5%, equal to roughly one thousand hectares. A loss in quantitative weight matched by an extraordinary rise in qualitative reputation.
Decisive in this process was also the catalyzing role of Serbia’s capital, Belgrade. This is explained by Tomislav Ivanović, founder of Vinopedia and one of the organizers of Prokupac Day.
«In 2016, the first edition of the event dedicated to the grape, it was extremely difficult to shift the local mentality. Ten years ago, the largest Prokupac vineyards were in Župa, in southern Serbia, and producers in the area considered this grape their own exclusive property, viewing with suspicion the fact that it was being promoted and showcased in Belgrade».
The event dedicated to the grape, instead, helped bring Prokupac into the country’s main wine and food market. Indirectly driving change in the areas of origin as well.
«Today – Ivanović continues – the situation has changed radically. Thanks to the annual events dedicated to Prokupac and the participation of an ever-growing number of wineries, local producers now recognize the commercial advantages of this strategy. To the point that it’s now impossible not to find at least one Prokupac label on the wine list of any good restaurant in Belgrade».
The priority now is to encourage experimentation and respond to new consumer demands. «Today’s winning combination is exactly this: old vineyards with a unique terroir combined with a new generation of winemakers equipped with modern techniques», concludes Ivanović.
PROKUPAC, AGRONOMIC CHALLENGES BETWEEN VIGOR AND LATE RIPENING
Prokupac’s new quality starts in the vineyard. The variety is vigorous, productive, and late-ripening. Characteristics that demand particular attention to vegetative-productive balance and the choice of harvest timing.
Excessive yield can compromise ripening, while inadequate canopy management risks altering the relationship between cluster exposure, sugar accumulation, and the development of phenolic compounds. With increasingly hot summers, it is also becoming essential to preserve acidity and freshness, avoiding high alcohol levels before full tannic maturity is reached.
Serbian scientific research is delving further into these aspects. A study published in 2022 in the journal Horticulturae, authored by Serbian researcher and university lecturer Dušica Ćirković, analyzed the effects of different defoliation timings on Prokupac’s phenolic composition, highlighting the importance of tailoring interventions to vineyard conditions.
A second front concerns clonal selection and the preservation of the genetic heritage of old plantings. Showcasing biotypes with promising qualitative traits must proceed without impoverishing the variety’s diversity. The choice of rootstocks and management of the root system also matter, especially for coping with water stress and extreme climate conditions.
IGOR LUKOVIĆ: «PROKUPAC WILL BE EUROPE’S NEXT BIG THING»
For Igor Luković, organizer of the event and director of the Serbian magazine Vino&Fino, the grape’s potential is still far from being fully realized.
«This grape’s strength lies in its uniqueness: it’s not just another wine that seems interesting but ends up resembling a Merlot. On the contrary, it has a well-defined character in terms of fruitiness, spice, body, and tannins. Already today it is possible to distinguish the different Prokupac wines by terroir of origin. And that is the most significant aspect».
A territorial character set to become increasingly recognizable through ongoing research.
«Of course, Serbia still has to tackle a few agronomic challenges, such as clonal selection, grafting, and root management, but we’re on the right track to solving them. The reputation of these wines is advancing rapidly, even before these obstacles have been fully overcome. I believe that in the future Prokupac will be the next big thing on the European wine scene».
THE SECOND MIRACLE: FROM CONCENTRATION TO ELEGANCE
The most striking transformation concerns the wine’s enological profile. For years, some of the most ambitious interpretations of Prokupac followed a model based on heavy extractions, extended maturation, high alcohol levels, and particularly pronounced oak aging. A concept of quality that affected numerous international wine regions and today shows clear limitations.
Contemporary Prokupac has progressively abandoned the equation between power and prestige. Favoring instead aromatic precision, freshness, and tannic finesse. In the cellar, the difference lies mainly in how extraction is managed.
The best interpretations show clean fruit, spice, depth of flavor, and a tannin capable of supporting the wine without weighing it down. The true achievement is the ability to combine complexity, drinkability, and aging potential, without sacrificing territorial identity.
This last aspect deserves particular attention: a Prokupac from Župa need not necessarily resemble one from Šumadija or Toplica. The diversity of soils, exposures, and climate conditions is a resource to be valued, not a variable to be neutralized through winemaking.
THE BEST AT PROKUPAC DAY 2026
Below are the best single-variety Prokupac wines (100% of the wine obtained from the single variety) tasted at Prokupac Day 2026. Blends – though present – were excluded for a clearer understanding of the direction this Serbian variety is taking in the glass.
| wdt_ID | wdt_created_by | wdt_created_at | wdt_last_edited_by | wdt_last_edited_at | CANTINA | ZONA | DESCRIZIONE | PUNTEGGIO / SCORE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Davide-bortone | 19/10/2026 03:16 PM | Davide-bortone | 19/10/2026 03:16 PM | Vinarija Radovan – Prokupac 2019 | Starci, Aleksandrovac, Župa – Tri Morave | Un Prokupac di straordinaria personalità, ottenuto da un vigneto con piante tra gli 80 e i 120 anni, non di proprietà aziendale, ma recuperato per evitarne l'abbandono. Il quadro aromatico attraversa il frutto rosso e scuro, dalla ciliegia alla mora, con una profondità sorprendente. In bocca la concentrazione si confronta con una tensione continua, mentre la rotondità non diventa mai pesantezza. Grande equilibrio fra maturità, densità e slancio, con finale lungo. Fondata nel 2011 dall'enologo e consulente Radovan Đorđević a Starci, nella regione della Župa, la cantina era originariamente conosciuta come Čokot. Nel 2025 ha assunto il nome Vinarija Radovan, inaugurando una nuova fase produttiva e un rinnovamento delle etichette. | 97/100 |
| 2 | Davide-bortone | 19/10/2026 03:16 PM | Davide-bortone | 19/10/2026 03:16 PM | Temet – Beli Kamen Prokupac 2019 | Lozovik, Tri Morave | Un vino che esprime il carattere del vigneto Beli Kamen, contraddistinto da terreni ricchi di dolomite. Visciola matura, prugna, mora e pot-pourri si intrecciano a sfumature fumé, speziate e minerali. Bocca succosa e profonda, tannino strutturato, tensione acida e finale persistente. Temet interpreta con questa selezione il Prokupac di una singola parcella, puntando sull'espressione del terroir e sulla capacità di evoluzione. | 96/100 |
| 3 | Davide-bortone | 19/10/2026 03:16 PM | Davide-bortone | 19/10/2026 03:16 PM | Vinarija Doja – Breg Prokupac 2021 | Donja Jošanica, Blace, Toplica | Profilo aromatico giocato sulla freschezza del frutto rosso, con ciliegia, ribes, piccoli frutti di bosco, violetta e delicati accenti di chiodi di garofano. Il rovere contribuisce alla complessità con sfumature speziate e tostate, senza cancellare la componente varietale. Sorso morbido ma strutturato, sostenuto da una buona acidità e tannini maturi. Chiusura equilibrata, di piacevole persistenza. La famiglia Todić vanta una tradizione viticola risalente alla fine dell'Ottocento. Il progetto contemporaneo della cantina Doja prende forma nel 2010 per iniziativa di Goran Todić, affiancato dalla moglie Slavica, docente di viticoltura all'Università di Belgrado. | 95/100 |
| 4 | Davide-bortone | 19/10/2026 03:16 PM | Davide-bortone | 19/10/2026 03:16 PM | Vinarija Radovan – Prokupac 2023 | Starci, Aleksandrovac, Župa – Tri Morave | Un'interpretazione che richiama, per sensibilità stilistica, certi Syrah contemporanei del Rodano, prodotti a basso intervento enologico e con grande attenzione alla qualità della materia prima. Profumi di ciliegia matura, visciola e piccoli frutti scuri, in un quadro di notevole nitidezza. Il palato è ampio, profondo e insieme teso, con acidità vibrante, tannini fini e finale di grande lunghezza. Fermentazione spontanea con acini interi, breve macerazione e affinamento di 12 mesi in rovere francese Radoux non tostato: scelte che accentuano succosità ed espressione varietale. | 95/100 |
| 5 | Davide-bortone | 19/10/2026 03:16 PM | Davide-bortone | 19/10/2026 03:16 PM | Vinarija Aleksandrović – Prokupac Kameničarka 2021 | Vinča, Topola, Oplenac – Šumadija | Un Prokupac particolarmente convincente sul piano olfattivo. Visciola matura, ciliegia, ribes e spezie dolci, fra cui cannella e vaniglia, compongono un naso sfaccettato ed elegante. Il sorso è armonico, con tannini setosi e un frutto ben definito. L'affinamento prevede una combinazione di barrique francesi e grandi botti di rovere slavone da 4 mila litri. Attiva nella viticoltura dal 1903, la famiglia Aleksandrović ha rilanciato la produzione vinicola nei primi anni Novanta. Nel 1992 Božidar Aleksandrović ricevette dal Canada, dall'ex cantiniere reale Živan Tadić, la ricetta originale del Trijumf, storico vino bianco delle cantine di re Alessandro Karađorđević, riportandolo in produzione. | 95/100 |
| 6 | Davide-bortone | 19/10/2026 03:16 PM | Davide-bortone | 19/10/2026 03:16 PM | Temet – Ključ Prokupac 2022 | Lozovik, Tri Morave | Questo Prokupac proviene dal vigneto Ključ ed è affinato in anfora fino a 18 mesi. La scelta del contenitore consente una lettura del vitigno senza l'apporto aromatico del rovere. Ključ è uno dei vigneti selezionati di Temet, nell'area di Jagodina, in cui l'azienda sperimenta interpretazioni legate alla singola parcella. Spicca per precisione del varietale e frutto, senza rinunciare a spezia e profondità. | 93/100 |
| 7 | Davide-bortone | 19/10/2026 03:16 PM | Davide-bortone | 19/10/2026 03:16 PM | Vinarija Grabak – Vivak Prokupac 2019 | Vrnjačka Banja, Serbia centrale | La vigna da cui proviene questo Prokupac ha 100 anni. Si apre su una splendida espressione del frutto, con ciliegia, mirtillo rosso ed evoluzione aromatica verso sottobosco e balsamicità. Il legno accompagna la componente varietale al palato, che conserva croccantezza e grande facilità di beva, pur mostrando struttura e un peso specifico adeguato ad abbinamenti gastronomici importanti. Tannini risolti, morbidi, sostenuti da una freschezza ancora evidente. Fondata nel 2015 da Miloš Jovanović, Grabak sorge sulle colline di Vrnjačka Banja e coltiva Prokupac anche in vigneti situati intorno ai 500 metri di altitudine. | 92/100 |
| 8 | Davide-bortone | 19/10/2026 03:16 PM | Davide-bortone | 19/10/2026 03:16 PM | Vinska Kuća Rajić – Prokupac 2024 | Bavanište, Banato meridionale, Vojvodina | Interpretazione giovane e convincente, centrata sulla piacevolezza del frutto. La componente aromatica è immediata, mentre il sorso combina buona profondità, rotondità misurata e freschezza. Il passaggio in legno del 50% della massa, secondo le informazioni raccolte durante la degustazione, contribuisce al volume senza compromettere la bevibilità. Un rosso gastronomico, particolarmente interessante servito leggermente fresco. Il progetto familiare di Vinska Kuća Rajić è nato nel 2020 a Bavanište, quando Vasa Rajić ha impiantato circa tre ettari di vigneto sui terreni di proprietà della madre. | 91/100 |
THE INTERNATIONAL CHALLENGE: FROM RECOGNITION TO MARKET
In a global red wine market going through a complex phase of declining sales, Prokupac can tap into a demand that is more attentive to balance, originality, and territorial recognizability.
«Just as today we associate Tuscany with Sangiovese or Tokaj with Furmint – observes Igor Luković – I believe that in the future central Serbia, southern Serbia, and the country as a whole will be recognized on the wine scene precisely thanks to Prokupac».
It’s a credible prospect, provided Serbia avoids the temptation to chase established models. The wine world doesn’t need new imitations of Bordeaux, Burgundy, or the Rhône. It needs authentic identities and new qualitative benchmarks. Exactly what Prokupac could become, as it continues firmly down the path it has taken in recent years.
