Grape-growing and wine production has a long tradition in Kosovo. While local small-scale wine – production was developed rampantly during the last two centuries, the wine industry in Kosovo became large-scale in the 1970s with the founding of the first larger SOEs. During its “glory days”, the wine industry benefited from 9,000 ha vineyard area, divided into private and public ownership, and spread mainly throughout the south and west of Kosovo. The four state-owned wine production facilities were not as much “wineries” as they were “wine factories”. Only the Rahovec facility that held app. 36 percent of the total vineyard area had the capacity of around 50 million litres annually. The major share of the wine production was intended for exports. At its peak in 1989, the exports from the Rahovec facility amounted to 40 million litres and were mainly distributed to the German market.
The viniculture still represents one of the most important sectors of the Kosovar agriculture, with a good potential to attract foreign investments. The continental climate and the height of 300-400 meters above the sea level are incredibly well-suited to vineyards and the development of wine grapes. There are more than 200 sunny days annually to help ripen the grapes, on par with some well known wine production regions. These advantages create very good conditions for the qualitative wine production in Kosovo.
The wine industry in Kosovo currently consists of some 5,000 ha of vineyards. In order to stimulate and support grape-growing and wine production, the Government of Kosovo has passed a Wine Law that governs wine production at a high standard and is perhaps one of the finest in the world for such a small growing region such as Kosovo.
The creation of the Wine Institute in Rahovec in 2007 that will lead the change towards quality and technology-based wine-making techniques is also an important step towards the revitalisation and modernisation of the wine industry in the future.
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