Immersed amid the estate’s vineyards, where local and international varieties produce wines renowned for their quality, you’ll find a luxury inn, an elegant fine-dining restaurant (Fleur de Sel) and the Šapat Wine Atelier which serves good local cuisine and wine in a relaxing atmosphere.
Chef Nikola Stojaković and sommelier and restaurant manager Dušan Vranić are the names behind this project, both of whom boast previous experience in Michelin-starred restaurants in Europe and America. The fine-dining restaurant (one of the two to have been awarded a Michelin star in Serbia for the selection 2025) works with local ingredients, producers and wines, while maintaining an international outlook thanks to the professional influences the two friends have absorbed during their experiences in other parts of the world. Let’s get to know them.
Nikola Stojaković, chef
We’ve heard a lot about your cuisine and the importance that you attach to local ingredients…
Our culinary philosophy is to connect our land through geography, history and tradition with the flavours and the heritage that it represents. Our job is to provide finesse, detail and depth of flavour by representing the best that this country has to offer and, to do so, we pay particular attention to our choice of local ingredients.
Serbia is increasingly recognised as a great source of quality white and black truffles, we have connections with local foragers from the Fruška Gora region, with fishermen who fish in the Danube and other rivers such as the Drina, and we also work with regional hunters and local organic growers. In addition, we have a sustainable organic garden on our estate where we grow fruit and vegetables. It goes without saying that freshwater fish plays an important role in our cuisine given our location facing the Danube – the river is part of our identity. We work with local fishermen who provide us with the best freshwater fish possible throughout the year, including pike perch and catfish.
How important are Serbian traditions in the way that you work?
Serbia is a crossroads that has been influenced by many different cultures such as the Austro-Hungarian empire, the East and the Mediterranean, and for that reason it has a vibrant and colourful culinary scene that has enormous potential. We have unique ingredients such as kajmak (a spreadable dairy product), a rare cheese made from donkey milk, and our famous sljivovica (plum brandy), as well as top-quality dairy and meat products from all over the country.
How is your international approach related to your experience abroad?
I grew up in Paris and ever since I was fifteen I’ve worked in some of the most respected Michelin-starred restaurants in France, such as the Le Pré Catelan, Lasserre, Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome, Le Cinq at the Four Seasons George V, and Shangri-La.
In my career, I’ve been very fortunate to have had mentors such as Erik Briffard. As a chef, it is so important to form strong foundations early in your career – a combination of precise preparation, the use of sauces, rules for handling seasonal ingredients, elegance of service, maintaining complex flavours through seasonality, and a simple approach with a strong focus on creating balanced dishes.
Thanks to my experience in France, I firmly believe that French cuisine is the basis and foundation of all the evolutionary stages of gastronomy. It will always play a central role in my cuisine and the starting point from which I begin my work, along with a respect for presentation and seasonality in dishes that are complemented by the art of sauces and a balance of flavour and texture. I also respect Italian, Spanish and Mediterranean cuisine, as well as the pure quality of Greek ingredients, and there are also Eastern influences in my dishes as I am very fond of Asian flavours.
Dušan Vranić, sommelier
What is it like working in a winery?
It’s very interesting, because this is an inspiring place which is home to two different restaurants and six guestrooms with beautiful views of the River Danube. You are more aware of the seasons here than you would be in a city: it’s fun and exciting to follow all the stages in the vineyards around us as the year passes.
Our work gives us great satisfaction: we have achieved surprising results with the Chardonnay Atila 2022 that comes from our single vineyard (95 Decanter points), as well as with the Sauvignon Blanc Atila (92 James Suckling points). We’re doing great things with our Teroldego-based wines –in fact, we’re the only winery in Serbia to have planted this variety, which comes from the Trentino-Alto Adige and, as it is related to Syrah, has a surprising spicy character, a strong structure and good ageing potential in oak barrels that gives it just the right character. We are also awaiting our first grape harvest from the local, regional Grasac (Welschriesling) and Pinot Nero varieties, while our most popular wines include the Blaufrankish rosé and the Bianca made from the Muscat grape.
How do you curate the restaurant’s wine list?
Our wine list is subdivided into three sections: wines that come from our own winery, which are produced from the grapes planted on our estate’s twelve hectares of land; wines from the region of Fruška Gora in northern Serbia, where we are situated, which includes around thirty different labels; and international wines from across the globe (around 500 labels) including Burgundy, Bordeaux, Champagne, Piedmont, Tuscany, California and Oregon, to give just a few examples. We also offer the option of tasting 13 rare international wines and excellent vintages by the glass, as well as sweet and fortified wines with a particular focus on the Tokaj region. In total, our wine list boasts five thousand bottles, with a team of three sommeliers on hand to advise our guests.
Do you also offer non-alcoholic alternatives?
We work with local businesses who produce top-quality ingredients that we use for non-alcoholic drinks. Options include freshly pressed juices such as raspberry (Serbia has the best quality in the world, the famous Arilje raspberry), as well as quince (including the renowned variety from Tavnik, which is home to the largest quince orchards in Europe) and apple, wild blackberry and wild blueberry from the Kopaonik mountains.
How are the pairings with the chef’s dishes created?
When the new menu is ready, or when we have themed dinners, I will personally create these pairings, along with chef de cuisine Nikola and our team of sommeliers. We study the dishes in terms of their texture, temperature and their level of spiciness, paying particular attention to the sauces which often determine the type of wine pairing. I like to think of the sauces as a kind of “motorway” for the wine, which allows the wine to combine seamlessly with the dish in question. We are ready to experiment, but fundamentally we work a lot with the structure of the wine and its integration with the dish, concentrating on its scents and aromas.
In which direction is the Serbian wine world heading today?
The Serbian wine world is flourishing thanks to the country’s rebirth as a wine destination: it’s well worth coming here for events such as “Wine Vision”, a wine festival held in Belgrade which is gradually establishing a reputation as one of the main annual wine events in Europe. Serbia is investing in new vineyards with leading oenological teams, sommelier organisations are working well and training new generations of sommeliers, and wine production is undergoing a diversification of styles. The number of international awards obtained is increasing, confirming the improvement in quality year on year – however, it must be said that it is no coincidence that wine has been produced in Serbia ever since the Roman era.
What was your professional experience before coming here and which are your favourite wine regions?
I lived and worked in the United States for 16 years, spending time in Philadelphia and New York. I trained at the Wine School of Philadelphia and became a certified sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers. Among other places, I worked at Riverpark in Manhattan, at The Clocktower and Eleven Madison Park in NYC, where I was head sommelier, as well as in restaurants that were popular with celebrities, such as Milos and The Standard (also as head sommelier).
As far as my personal tastes are concerned, among our local wines I’m very fond of the Fruška Gora, Sumadija and Zupa regions where you can find some great native Serbian varieties, while my favourite international wine regions include Burgundy, the Moselle, the Rheingau, Piedmont, the Loire Valley, Champagne and the Willamette Valley.
Hero image: Branislav Nenin - Fleur de Sel
