THE RECENT SPATIAL DIFFUSION OF VINEYARDS IN THE KUTJEVO WINE-GROWING HILLS

Sa？etak This paper considers the expansion of commercial vineyards in the Kutjevo wine-growing hills in the period from 2000 to 2012, as encouraged by national agrarian policy measures. The theoretical concept of the study is the spatial diffusion model. For its explanation, the terms used in the foreign literature, such as the S-curve, the neighbourhood effect and the hierarchy effect, have been introduced. The methodological approach was based on telephone surveys, interviews and field mapping. A total of 130 grapevine growers, or 26.6% of the total 488 grapevine growers listed in the Farm Register, were surveyed. The results show that Kutjevo was the primary focal point of diffusion in the Kutjevo wine-growing hills area, that the start and end of vineyard expansion was predicated on fi nancing, and that the adoption of vineyards in individual settlements was contingent on their developmental characteristics (types). The outcome of the expansion of vineyards was the transformation of the agrarian landscape and the start of wine tourism in the core of the Kutjevo wine-growing hills. The creation and networking of clusters presents an opportunity for the development of viniculture and wine tourism, and producers are aware of this