Vineyard and wine preservation is now being carried out between Portuguese, Croatian and Bosnian territories
On 5 July, the Alenquer City Council signed a new agreement to strengthen international winemaking cooperation, which began with the city of Benkovac in 2017. The protocol now has a first amendment after seven years to include a third location, in addition to the Portuguese and Croatian presences: the partnership is now a three-way partnership with the Bosnian municipality of Ljubuski . The National Institute for Agricultural and Veterinary Research (INIAV), the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Zagreb and the Adega Cooperativa da Labrugeira are the other three founding signatories of the agreement, in addition to the Portuguese and Croatian municipalities. The Polytechnic Institute of Santarém (IPS), the Association of Winegrowers of Alenquer (AVA) and the Federal Agro-Mediterranean Institute Mostar, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, have now joined them, improving the technical and academic component of a winning project.
The municipality of almost 10 thousand inhabitants, located around 300 kilometres from the capital Zagreb, hosted the tripartite meeting between municipalities, which was attended by the Mayor, Pedro Folgado, and the councillor Paulo Franco as the top representatives of Alenquer. The Portuguese Ambassador to Croatia, Paula Leal da Silva, honoured everyone with her presence and was the special guest on the occasion of a visit with several interesting features over three days.
The mayor of Alenquer considered that we are witnessing a project that has already proven to be “very important for Croatia and Portugal”, given the importance of wine as a “quality product in both countries”. “The three-day visit established an addendum to the protocol that has been in force since 2017 and from which we have all reaped the benefits, now bringing together three more partners, strengthening the union that already existed and now also extending it to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The important thing is to ensure that we are able to promote all the respective native grape varieties, understanding how the territory adapts to the terrain. In addition to wine, this agreement brings people together. It is a major matrix of this project. People share knowledge, culture and a wide range of other aspects”, stressed the Portuguese mayor present in Benkovac.
The host, Tomislav Bulic, Mayor of Benkovac, spoke of a “historic day” with the signing of an addendum to the protocol established between the Municipal Councils of Benkovac, Ljubuski and Alenquer. “After seven years of cooperation with the Portuguese, we have decided to expand cooperation to Bosnia and Herzegovina. This involves the exchange of native wine varieties, in addition to the cooperation that has so far been of truly high quality, as we have seen in previous years”, Bulic stated, noting that native varieties are now being exchanged between the three countries. There is general satisfaction among Croatians and Portuguese with the memorandum that has been signed, and with the results in sight. Empatia Vital Branco, born from this same exchange of varieties with Benkovac and created at Adega Cooperativa da Labrugeira, is a wine that has already won more than one award.
Representing the new country involved in the international agreement initially signed in 2017 , Vedran Markotic thanked those who made it possible to bring wines and cultures closer together. “This cooperation was achieved thanks to Professor Edije Maletic, from the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Zagreb, and Professor Marko Ivankovic, the director of the Agro-Mediterranean Institute. We already have Portuguese wine varieties planted on several farms and we joined the project because this story seemed very interesting to us. It will undoubtedly benefit us and will be a great exchange of knowledge. The experience so far has yielded good results and we are looking forward to bringing new varieties to Bosnia, while at the same time taking our best varieties to Portugal. We are interested and attentive to see how they will succeed in Europe”, stated the Mayor of Ljubuski.
For Paulo Franco, the agreement that saw this extension had several objectives. Before it was signed, the councilor of the Municipality of Alenquer was one of the speakers at the conference “Challenges in viticulture and winemaking in northern Dalmatia”, the region where Benkovac is located, where he discussed the success of a cooperation that had lasted for over seven years. “One of the objectives was the addendum to the protocol that formalizes the integration of the Portuguese partners that have already been working with us: the ISP and the AVA. The research component is being monitored by them. In addition to this integration, there was the integration of Ljubuski with the same purpose that led us to sign the 2017 agreement with Benkovac: the study, preservation, conservation and valorization of the regions’ native grape varieties”, said the person responsible for planning and coordinating activities carried out within the scope of economic development.
But there was a “very important moment” with the help of Portugal’s ‘house’ in Zagreb. “I would like to highlight the reception we had at the home of the Croatian Ambassador to Portugal, which provided a moment of economic diplomacy, as a group of businesspeople from the hotel, restaurant and distribution sectors gathered there. We took the opportunity to highlight the economic component of the project, which began in its first phase in 2015, with the creation of the ampelographic collection, where we brought together 44 native grape varieties, some of which no longer exist. This session marks the beginning of this phase. We want to open the doors to other markets and we brought the local products we have”, Paulo Franco made clear, pointing to the “future sustainability” of the agreement, which was made clear to all partners: “This project is serving as an example for other Portuguese cities that want to build bridges with Croatia”.
The meeting on Croatian soil took place a few days after the Croatian Ambassador to Portugal, Anita Tršić, visited Alenquer and formally opened the exhibition ‘À Tona: Monstros e Vinhedos’, by Lola Escámez, which is on display at the Wine Museum until 18 July. The artist once again demonstrated her creativity, this time in an on-site demonstration on Croatian soil.
Source: Município de Alenquer
