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Vineyard in Përmet district, South Albania
Albinfo · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons

Drink

Albanian WineVera shqiptare

A wine culture running back to Illyrian times, rebuilt after 1990 around native grapes.

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Type
Wine
Native varieties
Shesh i Bardhë and Shesh i Zi (Tirana/Durrës), Kallmet (Lezhë/Shkodër), Debinë (Përmet), Vlosh (Vlorë), Serinë
Main areas
Berat, Lezhë, Shkodër, Korçë, Tirana–Durrës, Përmet
History
Viticulture attested from antiquity; collectivised 1945–1990, replanted since

In plain language

People have made wine in Albania for thousands of years. Under communism most vineyards belonged to the state and quantity mattered more than quality. Since 1990 small wineries have replanted local grape varieties that grow nowhere else.

Simple explanation

People have made wine in Albania for thousands of years. Under communism most vineyards belonged to the state and quantity mattered more than quality. Since 1990 small wineries have replanted local grape varieties that grow nowhere else.

More images

Bottle of Albanian Wine: Sheshi i Zi – jubilee filling for the 80th anniversirary of the Albanian Football Association
Bottle Sheshi i Zi (80 vjet F.Sh.F.) Albinfo · CC0

Connected subjects

Related subjects

City · Berat

Berat

The 'city of a thousand windows': an Ottoman hill town under a still-inhabited castle, UNESCO-listed since 2008.

Industry

Agriculture in Albania

A large share of employment on very small holdings — the legacy of the 1991 land redistribution.

Drink

Raki

Home-distilled grape or plum spirit, offered to guests and made in most rural households.

Drink

Kallmet

A dark northern red grape from the Lezhë–Shkodër zone, related to Hungary's Kadarka.

Sources

  • Wikipedia. Albanian wine — English Wikipedia · retrieved 13 Oct 2026
    Used to ground the deep-research section and as a discovery aid; not relied on alone for contested claims.
  • Wikidata. Wikidata item Q1161792 · retrieved 13 Oct 2026
    Source of the population, area and elevation figures shown in Quick facts, each with its own observation year.
  • Wikimedia Commons. Photographs · retrieved 13 Oct 2026
    Each photograph carries its own creator, licence and file link beneath it. Only public-domain, CC0, CC BY and CC BY-SA files are published.

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