At the invitation of Grand Master Nikola CUCULJ, President Marc Lesk visited Vrsac, in the Serbian Banat in Voivodina, Serbia’s eastern region, accompanied by Vice President Janesz Dezman.
The Saint-Théodore brotherhood, named after the hero of the fight against the Ottoman occupiers in the 16th century, held a chapter to mark its 20th anniversary, in the presence of several brotherhoods from Serbia, Romania and Hungary, in the buildings of the Helvecija winery, built in 1880 by the Swiss merchant Bernard Stäube.
After a poetic declamation by an actor, Grand Master Nikola recalled the history of the Brotherhood, founded in 2005, and a member of the F.I.C.B. since 2015; and the history of the region’s wine, which dates back to the 15th century (1494) and whose production reached 56 million liters, its highest level, in 1875, on over 10,000 hectares.
Several brotherhoods came from other regions of Serbia, as well as from Hungary and Romania.
Ritual inductions were performed.
The President of the FICB was offered an elaborate board depicting the founding of the Brotherhood.
His return speech was translated by VP Janesz.
Musicians enlivened the meeting, and performed cult hits by Gilbert Bécaud and Joe Dassin in our honor.
After lunch with local wines, interviews were given on Serbian TV by Grand Master Nikola, the President of the FICB who had to answer the question: “Can Serbian wines compete with French wines?“, and Vice President Janesz.
We visited the important Draskovic estate,
whose vineyards cover an area of 350 hectares, but with much greater capacity for expansion and production.
The day ended at the wine festival held in the center of Vrsac. Dozens of stalls offered wine and regional products, accompanied by traditional song and dance.
Local varieties such as prokupac, kadarka, jagoda, tamjanika, smederevka, vranac and krstač are used either on their own to produce indigenous wines, or in combination with riesling, gamay, merlot or cabernet sauvignon. But international grape varieties dominate.
We would like to thank Grand Master Nikola and the members of the brotherhoods who were present for their warm welcome and the opportunity to discover their wines and culture. Long live the Saint Teodor brotherhood!
