Concours Mondial de Bruxelles has announced Vranac Selection by CMB 2026, running from 4 to 6 March at the prestigious Hilton Podgorica hotel. It is the only international competition dedicated to this great grape variety of south-eastern Europe, and to its noble relatives plavac mali crni and crljenak kaštelanski, also known as tribidrag, pribidrag, kratošija, primitivo, zinfandel and more.
Vranac is not merely a wine grape. It carries a story of stone and sun, of deep roots both real and symbolic, and of vineyards that have shaped the wine culture of south-eastern Europe for centuries. From the slopes above Lake Skadar in North Macedonia to the limestone terroirs of Crmnica in Montenegro, of Kosovo and southern Serbia, and to the stone of Herzegovina and the Dalmatian hinterland, vranac gives exceptional wines in landscapes of exceptionally poor soil under the care of wise winemakers. That is why it deserves its own international competition. 
Vranac Selection is much more than a competition. It is a celebration of authenticity where tradition and innovation meet, and an affirmation of the exceptional terroirs that shape the wine identity of south-eastern Europe, stresses Baudouin Havaux, president of Concours Mondial de Bruxelles. After a successful first edition in North Macedonia in 2023, CMB 2026 broadens its focus by including the whole family of related south-eastern European varieties. Producers can now enter single-variety wines of vranac, pribidrag/crljenak/kratošija and plavac mali, as well as their blends. 
By introducing the related varieties, the organisers aim to highlight their shared heritage across the wine peninsula of south-eastern Europe through a single story of origin, authenticity and diversity. In her monumental book Wine Grapes, in which she and her collaborators described 1,368 grape varieties, Jancis Robinson lists vranac as the most important indigenous variety of Montenegro and southern Croatia. It has been grown there, she adds, since the Middle Ages. She notes that today it is also extremely important in Herzegovina and North Macedonia, where it was introduced in the middle of the last century.
In Podgorica the vranac, crljenak and plavac wines will be judged by an international jury made up of oenologists, sommeliers, importers, traders and wine journalists. The National Sommelier Association of Montenegro announces strict protocols to ensure objective and precise scores for every wine. At the first Vranec Selection by CMB in Veles in 2023, gold medals were won by the Grabovac winery from Gornji Proložac near Imotski for the wines Vranac Riserva 2016 and Vranac Riserva 2019. Entries for the March 2026 judging are open until 6 February, with more detailed information on the website vranecselection.com.
11.12.2025.
