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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

“Wine Vision by Open Balkan” receives international UFI recognition

Belgrade, 26 November 2025

The Serbian government stated today that the International wine, food, spirits and tourism fair “Wine Vision by Open Balkan” gathered 535 exhibitors this year and officially received the status of UFI Approved Event, which is awarded by UFI - Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, the most important world organisation in this field.

This event, which was held for the fourth time under the domes of the Belgrade Fair, thus became the only wine, food and tourism fair in Serbia and the Western Balkans region with this label, and Belgrade was once again included in the list of the world capitals of wine and gastronomy.

The UFI Approved Event label is a globally recognised quality guarantee and is awarded to fairs that meet clearly defined international standards, with a mandatory independent audit of key indicators – total exhibition area, number of exhibitors and number of visitors.

As part of the “Wine Trophy” competition, an international jury selected the best wines in 12 categories. Three national trophies were awarded for the best rated wines from Serbia, North Macedonia and Albania, as well as special trophies for the best wines of indigenous Balkan varieties.

In the National Trophy Serbia category, the “Open Balkan Wine Trophy” went to Despotika Winery for its Krunski Dokaz Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 wine, the National Trophy North Macedonia went to Tikveš Winery for its Lepovo Chardonnay 2023 wine, and the National Trophy Albania went to Kantina Faba Winery for its Kabernelo Rezerva Cuvee 2019 wine.

The best white wine award was given to Frug Winery’s Chardonnay Signum 2023, while Grašac Zaravan 2023 from Vinčić Winery won the trophy for the best white wine of an indigenous variety.

The best red wine was awarded to Rodoslov Grand Reserve 2019 from Aleksandrović Winery, and the Macedonian Kratošija 2021 from Šato Kamnik Winery won among indigenous varieties.

Within the "Rakija Trophy" competition, the most important trophies were won by Cherry Hill Distillery for the Zaplet Šljiva plum brandy, Simex Original Company for the Vučija rakija Dunja barrique quince brandy, Gorda Distillery for the Gorda Viljamovka brandy, Potpis Distillery for Potpis kajsija 05 barik, Mladenović Distillery for the Marta cider and Tandem Distillery for the Bistra voda grape brandy.

This largest wine and gastronomy fair in Europe, created as the result of the "Open Balkan" initiative, presented visitors with wines, spirits, delicatessen and tourist offers from Serbia, the region and areas from all continents.

During the four days, numerous educational programmes, competitions, panel discussions, more than 30 workshops and masterclasses were held, as well as more than 1,500 business meetings on the B2B platform, which enabled direct contact and the establishment of business cooperation.

At the “Wine Vision by Open Balkan”, wines were evaluated by 25 international wine judges and numerous wine experts and holders of the prestigious Master of Wine title, including Chair of the Institute of Masters of Wine Rod Smith.

The largest number of professional buyers, 302 from 41 countries, came from the People's Republic of China (50), the Russian Federation (21), the United Kingdom (15), Switzerland (9) and the United States of America (8), while for the first time buyers from Poland, South Korea, Ukraine, Belarus, Iraq, Nigeria and Uganda also attended the fair.

The "Food Vision" event was also held, bringing together 35 exhibitors from the field of gastronomy and culinary arts, masterclass lecturers from five countries and eight of the best chefs from Serbia.

In this category, this year's International wine, food, spirits and tourism fair “Wine Vision by Open Balkan” also hosted eight international judges from the field of gastronomy and culinary arts from six countries, namely Sweden, Brazil, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Competitions in three categories were also organised for young chefs aged 16 to 25.

High marks from eminent foreign and domestic experts in this field once again confirmed the dedication, professionalism and perseverance of the participants and organisers of this international event, which placed Belgrade and Serbia among the best this year.