Chateau Sopot is a relatively new winery, established in 2006 when the two founders, Lazar and Vikica, bought vineyards from the Lozar winery. In the subsequent six years the winery grew its annual production to a modest sixty-thousand litres. In 2012 two more partners joined the venture and today the winery is working towards increasing production in line with their expansive vineyard holdings. The original oenologist Laze Ristovski moved on in early 2016 to found another winemaking project.
The winery’s vineyards sit at 220 metres above sea level located on hills that roll towards the left bank of the Vardar river. They include two hectares of Temjanika, twenty hectares of Chardonnay, thirty-eight hectares of Rhein Riesling and twenty-five hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon. Crucially the winery controls the quality of the vineyards from where they purchase the grapes.
This area has long been considered as an excellent source of quality wine grapes, primarily due to the amount of rain fall the area receives. Macedonia’s viticultural problems are often water stress related but the problem is less pronounced here.
