Negotinske Pivnice

It seems the tradition of growing vine and making wine around Negotin, a small town in the East of Serbia bordering Bulgaria and Romania, dates back from Roman times. This led to the development of wine cellars, but mots of these settlements are now lost or were destroyed. The most remarkable of the few remaining ones (from 19th and 20th centuries) is in Rajac – a village which gives its name to one of the Serbian wines. We made a stop there in summer 2022.

The wine cellars, or “Pivnice”, form a distinct, geographically separated settlement : the village is in the valley from where a small winding road leads to the cellars on top of the hill, overlooking the valley. When arriving, you would believe to have reached the next village but actually all the buildings are wine cellars only. They have square or rectangular plan, with one level only (although a handful for them have two levels), partly dug into the ground, probably to keep a more stable temperature inside, which is best for wine storage. Wine is still made here and can be tasted and purchased in a few of them. From the heat and sun outside, a few seconds were needed to adapt to the rather dark, tempered cellars when going in, and to safely walk down the few steps. Whether you like or dislike a food or a wine is a very personal thing as usual ; these wines were quite unusual and pleasant. …