The place where the Komuna Winery (Vinarija Komuna) is located shows how picturesque, even romantic, the Srem landscape can be. In the summer half of the year, it is a green, well-kept slope along the Borkovac Lake and a smaller fish pond that is intersected by Borkovac stream.
The landscape is complemented by a line of house-mill, a cafe, a beautifully decorated summer kitchen and an old wine cellar, buried in the ground as befits an elderly Srem estate from past centuries. This landscape of exceptional visual and ecological features, the habitat of songbirds and birds of prey, also has a historical story that dates back to a time when mills meant life for crowded villages.
According to the inscription next to the entrance, the mill, which is still on the property today, was built in 1800 and is therefore one of the oldest preserved in Srem. It is known that this is a “monks” mill, one that was owned by several shareholders with a clear order for milling. All the facilities on the property, including the mill, were transferred to the current location due to the construction of the Borkovac Lake, and the idea, effort and will of the Vlahović family to start a family winery saved them from decay.
Komuna Winery is the present and future of the Vlahović family, which is lived by Božana and Nebojša with their sons Matija and Marko. The choice to make viticulture and winemaking a family business was not a decision without previous role models, because the “grandfathers” from Dalmatia were winemakers, and the heirs, the youngest generation of Vlahovićs, decided to be the Pannonian winemakers after finishing their studies abroad. The vineyards of the Komuna Winery are located in the rural (municipal) area of Rivica, where the following assortment of grapes[1] is carefully nurtured: Chardonnay, Rhine Riesling, Muscat, Pettit Grain, Cabernet Franc and Merlot.
The following wines are on offer: Chardonnay, Rhine Riesling, Muscat Petit Grain, Rosé, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Penušavac and Muscat Kasna Berba. The vineyard here is a kind of school that shows where to strive and how to progress. That is why the Vlahovićs, in addition to their own plantations, established an experimental vineyard next to their property, which is also a demonstration property for students of the Faculty of Agriculture in Belgrade and the largest private collection of clones of autochthonous and regional grape varieties.
The wines of the Komuna Winery exude the advantages of the Fruška Gora terroir, and this is felt in every sip of wine, which only in the experience of the one who drinks it gets a gentle, elegant emotion or a seductive complexity of taste and smell. The winemakers of the Komuna Winery, led by the oenologist Tanja Drakulić, eager for novelty, experimentation and challenges, are bravely stepping towards new experiences, and the recognition they received for wines is confirmed by: Grand Wine Evaluation of Serbia in 2021 where in the category of “White still wines from local non-aromatic varieties” the Rhine Riesling 2019 was awarded a silver medal, and in the category of “Red still wines from international non-aromatic varieties” Merlot was awarded a bronze medal.
The visitors are gladly received with prior notice, and they have at their disposal a space inside the cafe as well as the one in the garden that can accommodate up to forty people together. The programme for tourists, depending on the agreement, includes tasting of three, five or seven wines with appropriate snacks for wine separation. There are gastronomic delights from domestic production and the immediate surroundings arranged on vineyard or Srem boards.
It is possible to organize lunch for pre-agreed groups, and we also offer cider and brandy from family production. Komuna Winery is famous for its wine offer, as well as for the ambience that was first discovered by a female audience that loves beauty, sophistication and creativity, and then families with small children, and companies that want to organize a team building activities in a picturesque area with wine and appropriate gastronomy.
It is also a lively place, home to various events such as the Komuna Festival, which brings together local farmers to offer a variety of produce, or the Upside Down Festival, popular among cycling enthusiasts. Above all, it is a place that definitely needs to be discovered over and over again.
Opening hours: Saturday to Sunday from 12:00 a.m. to 06:00 p.m.
Announcement is mandatory on working days.
Atar sela Rivica bb
Phone: +381 (0)64 636 9432; +381 (0)64 300 9876
E-mail:vmarence@gmail.com
Website: www.vinarijakomuna.com
Text: Gordana Stojaković
Photographs: Aleksandar Milutinović
Tourism Organisation of the City of Novi Sad is not responsible for changes in information and services.
The text posted in: October 2021
[1] Transcription of the grape assortment names is given according to: Cindrić, Petar and Vladimir Kovač (2007) “Vinogradarstvo i vina“ (“Viticulture and Wines“) Fruška Gora. Ed. Nebojša Jovanović and Jelica Nedić. Pg. 498. Beograd: Zavod za udžbenike
