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LONDON - Just a year after Kosovo emerged from bitter inter-ethnic conflict to gain independence, the fledgling state is celebrating its first export of wine to Britain.
The launch highlights the growth in Britain of sales of previously unknown wines from Croatia, Bulgaria, Moldova and Uruguay.
A report last month revealed Britain is now the world's most valuable wine market, worth 3.3 billion ($9.3 billion) last year, with wine-makers from around the world desperate to cash in on the nation's growing love of the grape.
The Kosovan wine, Stonecastle Vranac Premium 2007, comes from the Rahoveci Valley, in the southeast. It is made from one of the oldest grape varieties in the world, vranac, which is indigenous to the Balkan region.
Although the valley has the rolling hills and lush vines of Australia's Hunter Valley, it does not enjoy the same reputation for wine-making. But sales in Britain are expected to increase quickly.
The first bottles go on sale next month, after what its makers describe as "spectacular sales" across the rest of Europe. It will be sold, initially in supermarkets, for about 7.99 a bottle.
"The UK doesn't have a history of wine-making, and we are pretty liberal about where our wine comes from," said Guy Woodward, editor of Decanter wine magazine.
"It is much easier these days for countries to break through. However, there are so many wines around now that it is difficult to get new wines space on the shelf. There are more and more countries producing wine."
Wine has been made in Kosovo, which has a continental climate ideal for wine-growing, for more than 2000 years, but only now does it seem set to make its mark on the global wine map.
The full-bodied red is described as being soft in texture, similar to a Rhone Valley red.
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