On the banks of Slovenia's Drava River, a grapevine spreads across the front of an old house – much as it has done for centuries.

Maribor proudly boasts the Old Vine, which was planted in the second half of the 16th century and was already established when it appeared in the earliest known image of the site in 1657.

It is a grape variety called Žametovka, also known as Modra kavčina, one of Slovenia's oldest domesticated grape varieties.

Researchers confirmed its great age in the 20th century, and it was entered in the Guinness Book of Records in 2004. It's recognized as the world's oldest grapevine that is still producing fruit. 

Every year it grows new shoots, produces leaves and ripens grapes which are harvested and turned into wine.

Stane Kocutar is responsible for the monitoring and caring for the vine.

“To me, it is a puzzle that has never been solved — a puzzle of time, a puzzle of history, a puzzle of these places,” he says. "I have a very emotional relationship with it precisely because of that, because I know that this vine remembers a lot of things, hides a lot of things, and we don't know about them."

History of the Old Vine 

It was planted when Maribor was still a fortified town facing the threat of Ottoman attack, and the house it grows against was once part of the city's defenses.

It survived repeated fires at a time when wooden roofs and other combustible building materials made them a frequent danger.

Then came phylloxera in the late 19th century, a tiny insect that attacks vine roots and devastated vineyards across Europe. The Old Vine survived that too.

Local accounts attribute its survival partly to roots reaching deep into the gravelly banks of the Drava, where conditions made it difficult for the pest to establish itself.

During World War II, Allied bombing partly destroyed the house behind it, but the vine survived intact.

Its survival wasn't always assured. After a dam was built on the Drava in 1963, the river level rose and disrupted conditions around the root system.

By the 1970s, the vine was deteriorating and the surrounding riverfront had been neglected.

Agricultural experts intervened, removed dead growth and carefully pruned the surviving plant, helping restore it before the house and surrounding area were renovated in the early 1980s.

Annual ritual

The vine has since become the center of an annual ritual. This year was the 40th ceremonial harvest.

Former football referee Slavko Vincic was given the job of cutting the first cluster, before the city's mayor tasted the fruit and the organized harvest began.

The grapes are still picked by hand. They're then weighed and their sugar level is measured before they are crushed and processed into wine, following the same basic principle as any other wine harvest, although the quantities here are tiny.

In a typical year, the vine produces around 35 to 55 kilograms of grapes. That becomes about 100 quarter-liter bottles.

The bottles, specially designed for the city, are used as ceremonial or diplomatic gifts, making the harvest valuable more for its symbolism than for the amount of wine produced.

Unusually early 

This year, however, another part of the harvest attracted Kocutar's attention. The grapes reached high sugar levels unusually early after a summer of intense heat.

Sugar is one of the basic measures of grape ripeness. As grapes mature, their sugar concentration generally rises, and winemakers use those readings alongside acidity, flavor and other factors to decide when fruit is ready to be picked.

Kocutar compared this year's figures with records from almost four decades ago.

“This year on 13th August, grapes had as much sugar as at the time of harvest on 2nd October 1987 – that is, 39 years ago," he says. "We have reached the point where, in the middle of August, the grapes are at the same level as they were in early October 40 years ago.”

Despite this summer's extreme heat, the plant still produced a successful crop. One possible reason is the same deep root system that has helped it survive other threats.

The vine grows only a short distance from the Drava river, and its roots can reach moisture well below the surface.

“It's interesting that this year, with so much heat, such extreme heat, it hasn't been a problem for the harvest - it has endured very well," says harvester Teodor Zorko. 

"Apparently, it has very deep roots next to the Drava River, so it had enough water. The sun added a bit of sweetness so it's really sweet this year.”

Once the picking starts, the job doesn't take long compared with a commercial vineyard. The handful of harvesters work through the branches growing across the house, removing the clusters and taking them away for processing.

Some of the grapes were crushed at the ceremony alongside traditional music and dancing. The event has developed over four decades into a public celebration of the wider wine culture of Maribor and the surrounding Slovenian Styria region.

A physical link to history

Wine production here is much older than the vine itself. Records cited by Maribor's Oldest Vine Museum place viticulture in the area by at least the 11th century, while a cellar master serving the regional ruler is documented in 1353.

By 1876, Maribor was important enough as a wine center to host the first international viticultural congress in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Old Vine now provides a physical link to that history. 

Its descendants have also traveled far beyond this wall. Cuttings, or scions, have been taken from it and planted elsewhere in Slovenia and on other continents, creating genetically related vines descended from the Maribor original.

Beside the vine, a museum documents both the plant and the people who have kept it alive.

The city also appoints a wine queen, a ceremonial ambassador who represents Maribor and promotes wines from the surrounding Styrian region. Natalija Ploj is the 14th person to hold the title.

“For me, it is a tremendous honor to be able to promote the world's oldest vine," Ploj says. "It is an honor to promote Styrian wineries and wines, to travel across Slovenia, meet different people and socialize with queens from various wine-growing regions. I really believe it is a great honor to take on this role and be a part of it all.”

Keeping the vine alive

But keeping the vine alive involves a fundamental limitation that no amount of historical protection can remove. It's a living organism, not a building that can simply be repaired indefinitely.

Its age is exceptional for a cultivated grapevine. Guinness World Records says most cultivated vines rarely live beyond about 50 years and describes surviving beyond a century as exceptional.

That makes predicting the remaining lifespan of a vine more than four centuries old particularly difficult.

Kocutar can prune damaged growth, monitor the plant and manage the conditions around it, but nobody can put a date on how long it will continue producing new shoots and grapes.

“When I am asked how much longer (the vine will grow), I never know a smart answer to that question," Kocutar says. "But there is a German saying that goes like this, although it refers to oak: 'Oak lives for 500 years, dies for 500 years.' 

"I hope we are somewhere in that range. It is a living being, not a museum artifact. That's why it lives, and everything that lives has an end. I hope the end of this vine is far, far in the future.”

After more than 450 years, there is no answer to that question yet, but celebration of the resilience of its fruits is all the more worthy to raise a glass to.