Albanian Wine: A Visitor's Guide

The grapes

• Shesh i Bardhë — white, from the Tirana-Durrës hills; the country's signature white.
• Shesh i Zi — its red counterpart from the same area.
• Kallmet — deep-coloured northern red from Lezhë and Shkodër; related to Hungary's Kadarka.
• Debinë — white, from Përmet in the south.
• Vlosh — red, from the Vlorë area.
• Serinë — an old southern white.

Where to go

Berat and the Tirana-Durrës hills have the largest concentration of visitable wineries. Lezhë is the centre for Kallmet. Përmet works well combined with the Vjosa and the Bënjë thermal springs. Korçë has the brewery rather than the wineries.

What to expect

Most producers are small. Tastings are informal and usually need to be arranged in advance rather than dropped in on. Prices are low by western European standards and quality is uneven — which is normal for a wine industry rebuilt from a collectivised base in one generation.