Wine lovers looking for a holiday destination with a difference should consider Montenegro. It may not be the first country you think of when planning a trip to wine country, but Montenegro boasts wines you just can’t find anywhere else.
Bordering Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Kosovo, Montenegro is located on the Adriatic coast. And for visitors interested in vineyard tours, it couldn’t be a better destination.
Montenegro is the ideal wine holiday
Montenegro is the perfect wine producing country thanks to its extremely fertile land and spot-on microclimate. Thank to the latter, it’s one of the sunniest countries on the Adriatic, and the sunshine lasts all year round.
Eco Resort Cermeniza is one of the vineyards open to visitors. Nestling among the hills surrounding a small fishing village called Virpazar, the vineyard is close to the biggest lake in southern Europe – Lake Skadar. The family-owned vineyard has been producing wines for more than four centuries. Vines that have been producing the local vranac grape for more than hundred years still continue to do so.
The vranac grape is related to the newer Italian primitivo. Not only that, but vranac is also the precursor to the zinfandel grape. Wine has been made in Montenegro for a few thousand years, using the vranac grape to make rich ruby reds spliced with berries.
Local, ancient vineyards offer tours
Another vineyard worth visiting is the Radevic vineyard, which is relatively near to the capital city of Podgorica. It mainly makes French wines and is run by a husband and wife team called Goran and Renee Radevic.
Their wines include cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, syrah and a rosé. They have won various awards for their wine, and also make a white port from the grapes in their vineyard, which goes back 26 generations into winemaking history. The couple host vineyard tours at their winemaking site, and export their wine to buyers in France, Switzerland, Hong Kong and Germany.
The biggest vineyard in Montenegro is Plantaze, which exports wine to around 40 countries. They specialise in purple vranac, which is a very heavy, sweet, rich wine, ideal to go with the meaty stews that remain a specialty of the region.
To finish a wine tour of Montenegro, head down to Herceg Novi on the south western coastline of the country. Situated just above the Bay of Kotor, a vineyard called Castel Savina is ideally placed for wine tasting while taking in the beautiful view.
