VINS Distillery is a family story from Kosmaj, born from a love of nature, tradition and a premium distillate made from 100% dried plums. The name VINS symbolically carries the family members who build this story together: Vesna, Ivona, Nevena and Saša.
Our story of VINS premium prune brandy began on Kosmaj, where we spent our free days in the family home. Out of love for nature, family and tradition, we planted the first orchard on part of our land in 2015.
Planting of the first orchard in 2015.
Our land, which has been in the family's inheritance for several centuries, has been transformed into a family and business oasis in the village of Slatina, which belongs to the Belgrade municipality of Sopot. Now there are already two thousand Plum seedlings on the rose of the Kosmai winds. The part of the foothills of Kosmaj, on which our entire story lies, was once the area where the battles took place, in which our ancestors participated.
Ancestors of the Vukosavljević family in Slatina in 1944.
Because VINS is made from dried plums, the fruit must be juicy, sweet and carefully selected. The variety we planted proved ideal for drying and processing: once dried, the plum preserves the aroma, fullness and character needed for distillation.
The flowering of our orchard
Everything behind VINS is done as a family, from orchard care to drying and distillation. VINS is not an ordinary rakija or a macerated liqueur, but a premium distillate of dried plums, created through traditional distillation and shaped by oak aging into a layered, elegant Serbian prune brandy.
Our dried plum ready for fermentation
Distillation is a process used to concentrate and distill alcohol from fermented fruit juice.This process is usually applied to fruits with high sugars such as plums, pears, apples or grapes. The procedure starts with the fermentation of fruit juice, which means that the sugars in the fruit are converted into alcohol with the help of yeast. After fermentation, the liquid is heated in a still, usually a still, where the alcohol evaporates at a lower temperature than the water. The vaporized alcohol then condenses back into the liquid, creating brandy with a higher alcohol content.
The traditional way of making brandy - prunes pitted, ground and ready for fermentation
Maceration is the process of extracting the aroma and flavor of fruit into alcohol without distillation. In this process, fruit is placed in an alcoholic base (such as vodka or low-strength brandy) and left to sit for a long time to infuse the fruit flavors into the alcohol. This process usually takes several weeks or even months, depending on the desired strength of the aroma. After the process is completed, the liquid is filtered or the fruit is removed, and the result is a fruity liquor with a pronounced fruity taste. So, the main difference between the two processes is that distillation is used to concentrate alcohol through evaporation and condensation, while maceration is used to infuse fruity aromas and flavors into the alcohol base.
Liqueurs and other drinks obtained by the maceration process
