Macedonia’s vineyards heartland, Tikves, has produced wine since the 4th century BC. It features rolling vineyards, lakes, caves and mountains, plus archaeological sites and churches. It’s especially beautiful at dusk, when the fading sunlight suffuses soft hills laden with millions of grapes. Tikves’ local grapes generally retain an ideal sugar concentration (17% to 26%).

Tikves is the most well-known wine region in Macedonia. It is located in the very heart of the country and stretches along similar latitudes as the Bordeaux region in France, Tuscany region in Italy and the Napa Valley region in California. The wine district is situated on around 2,000 sqm of fertile land, surrounded by mountains on three sides. This district embraces the flat and undulating hills that stretch to the Veles canyon on the north, Demir Kapija canyon on the south, Drenovo and Mariovo Mountains on the southeast and Plaush and Konce mountains on the northeast. The specific part comes from the length where the rivers Vardar, Crna, Raec and Bregalnica pass in the lower flow. All these rivers and mountains have a special influence on district’s agro ecological, relief and pedologic characteristics.