Picturesque wine village at foot of Šipčanik - new chapter in history of Podgorica's "Plantaže 13. jul"

On the east side of Podgorica, the hill called Šipčanik emerges from vast Ćemovsko field. There used to be the fortress that Montenegrin prince Danilo took over from Turks in 1912, which was later turned into a military airport. The fortress, which is situated on the very top of the hill, gives the view of the Skadar lake and the city of Podgorica. Šipčanik is today the symbol of a new age in the history of company "13. jul Plantaže". The story of this unusual wine cellar, just like any story of wine, must start in a vineyard.

For the lovers of good wine and genuine hedonists, Podgorica's "Plantaže 13. jul" is preparing an unusual offer of wine tourism, which, in addition to drinks and gastronomic specialties, includes the visits to famous vineyards of Ćemovo field, wine cellars and numerous contents within the company. The wine tourism project also anticipates organization of the space around wine cellar Šipčanik, which is situated only 30 km away from the Adriatic Sea.

Construction of a picturesque wine village between the vineyards and the wine cellar is also in the pipeline, and it should include interesting contents for the whole family, one of which is horseback riding. The company announced international competition for preliminary programme-architectural solution for the village on September 24th. The deadline for submission of works is December 20th, while the winner of the first prize of 12,000 EUR will be known on December 28th. The author of the second-ranked solution will receive the prize of 8,000 EUR, while the author of the third-ranked work will be rewarded with 5,000 EUR.

- Construction of the wine village is included in the second phase of organization of the space around former barracks Šipčanik, and realization of that project will open a new chapter in the development of wine tourism. Tourist complex "Šipčanik" will be the pride, not only of our company, but also of the city of Podgorica and whole Montenegro - Marija Rajković, the Marketing Manager in company "13. jul Plantaže", told "eKapija".

Wine cellar Šipčanik

Wine cellar Šipčanik was opened at the end of 2007, when an old military facility was turned into an impressive wine treasury, according to the principle of French chateaus, of which cellars are dug in the middle of vineyards, in the same ground and the same rock from which the vine grows.

- The first phase of reconstruction lasted for over a year, while total investment amounted to about 2m EUR - said Ms. Rajković.

The cellar is situated at about 30 meters under the ground. It is shaped like a tunnel, 356 meters long, 13.5 meters wide and 7 meters high. The temperature is constantly between 17 and 19 degrees Centigrade, while the air humidity ranges between 70 and 80%.

At the surface of 7,000 square meters, wine is kept in barriques and other wooden vessels in almost ideal climatic and technological conditions. Two million liters of wine are aging in wooden barrels and bottles.

- Here you can see the most famous brands of barriques - Vicar, Nadali, Moro, Radu, Taranso… The wine cellar comprises a wine shop with 28,000 bottles of wine, 3 to 10 years old, and there is also the oldest wine of company "Plantaže" – Lesendro, vintage 1979, which is still brisk and smooth after nearly 30 years. Šipčanik also has a wine tasting room at 200 square meters, which is completely equipped for both professional tasting and wine evaluation events and tourists, since the cellar is open during the whole year.

(wine tasting room)

Complex "Šipčanik" is a very significant place and it offers great possibilities for better use of environmental and natural potentials of the territory on which it is located.

The biggest vineyard in Southeast Europe

An old Montenegrin saying goes: "Meat is best when close to bone and vine is best when close to stone". Either because of suitable soil or specific production technology, Vranac from Ćemovo field represents a real prince among Montenegrin wines and the pride of Podgorica's "Plantaže". It also gives birth to autochtonous Krstač, as well as world-famous sorts such as Cabernet, Merlot, Chardonnay. They all together make a rich principality of wine, situated in the unique vineyard at 2,350 ha.

On one of their sides, the vineyards are bordered by the river bed of the stubborn little Cijevna river, which, on its way to the Morača and the sea, found its way through elemental rocks and created a picturesque small canyon. The river bed of the Cijevna is, at the same time, an impressive cross-section of the base of the vineyards in Ćemovo field, which had been a heath prior to the 1970. The cross-section of the vineyard land, which many wine cellars can present only as a museum exhibit, is visible to the eye in Ćemovo field.

Plantaže (Plantations)

Company "13 jul-Plantaže" was founded in 1963, and it deals with production of table and wine grape and peach, wine and grape brandy distribution, fish farming, catering and retail trade. The company owns the biggest vineyard in Europe with about 11m vines.

Company "Plantaže" is also one of the biggest manufacturers of wine and table grapes in Montenegro and surroundings with the annual production of wine grapes of 20m kg, about 17m bottles of which are sold every year in local and foreign markets. The products of "Plantaže" are exported to more than 25 countries (Southeast Europe, European Union, Russia, China, Australia, Canada and the USA).

The specific feature of the company is the strategy that is based on production of autochtonous wine sorts - Vranac and Krstač. About 60% of vineyards are planted with Vranac, and the surface under this and other world-acknowledged sorts are significantly growing every year. Company "13. jul-Plantaže" also picks other gifts of the Mediterranean sun, earth and water. It also owns a peach plantation at about 80 ha and its own production of vine planting material. Three wine cellars have the capacity of over 30m liters, and that is where wine in the colors of purpure, dusk and velvet is resting and aging.