The tramini used for the wine comes from the organic plantation of Đorđe Bikicki, an area that was already sprayed with copper and sulfur. The grapes were harvested in mid-October, the bunches were left out until the last moment. The botrytis cinera infection has started, which means that when the fungus appears on the berry skin in autumn, it needs light and moisture. The grapes do not rot, but the fungus slowly dries out the berries, while injecting interesting aromas through the berry skin. During the dehydration, all the flavors are concentrated, and finally the sugar level was concentrated to 550 grams. In other words, one liter of must contained 550 grams of natural sugar when the grapes were pressed. These were harvested separately, picked one by one, then trampled with the feet, according to the old tradition, and then pressed. We only pressed the dried berries, which have very little juice.
One of the healthiest wines in the world
When expeditions to the North Pole started in the 19th century, the death rate was usually over 50 percent. The Hungarian expedition brought Tokaj aszu with them and the death rate did not even reach twenty percent. They drank three to four hundred ml of this wine a day. Thanks to the fungus, there are penicillin-like ingredients that provide very good protection against inflammatory and cold related diseases. In several European countries, in the 1950s and 1960s: in Sauternes, France, Chateau d'Yquem the Germans had TBA (trockenbeerenauslese) and the Hungarian Tokaj Aszú was known for sweet wines. But in the Middle Ages, while the Turks did not occupy this area, Srem was in first place with natural sweet wines. These are not ice wines, these are Aszu wines, and the someliers consider Aszu wines to be the best in the world. Within this, the essence is at the highest place. Aszus and TBAs have a sugar content of 180 grams per liter. In our wine, the natural sugar content is 241 grams, with 11 percent alcohol. We aged it in oak barrels for three years, then it was bottled, and now it has been bottled for four years. In other words, the wine is now seven years old, but its aging potential is hundreds of years. We made this essence after a break of several centuries, it probably hasn't been made like it in the last five hundred years. Its realistic price would be 200 euros per bottle and there is no market for it here, but we still don't want to give up on this product, and it will be available at pridronovino.rs webshop for price of 5,900 RSD.
The label
The label was drawn by Antonio Bonifini and this is the decorative page of the Corvina codices. He was a Florentine Renaissance humanist, one of the greatest thinkers of his time. He testified that he had tasted all the wines in the world, but he had never come across anything like the one from Srem; he had never tasted anything better. This is how we pay tribute to him, that the drawing from the 1480s he made forms the basis of the label. From the period when most of the world's royal courts had sweet wines from Srem.
The color of wine
The Traminer essence is completely golden, like if it were liquid gold in the bottles. Galeotto Marzio, another Florentine humanist, commented on the sweet wines of Srem. He believed that the Fruska gora soil and the rocks must have a very high gold content, which is why this wine has this color. The vine absorbed the gold with its roots.