Vranac and the wines of Montenegro: the back story

About Vranac and the wines of Montenegro: the back story

By the ULTIMATE Podgorica Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Just south of Podgorica, the stony Ćemovsko plain is covered with vines, and the wine made from them is part of everyday life in the capital.

Vranac

Vranac, a grape native to Montenegro, makes deep, dark red wines with plenty of fruit. Krstač is its white companion. You will find both on almost every wine list in Podgorica.

Plantaže and Šipčanik

On the Ćemovsko plain, 13. Jul Plantaže tends one of the largest single vineyards in Europe, and it has turned Šipčanik, a former underground aircraft hangar, into a wine cellar you can visit on a tour with a tasting.

Vranac is the taste of Montenegro: dark, deep and generous.

Crmnica

Around Virpazar and the villages of Crmnica, near Lake Skadar, family wineries make wine on a much smaller scale, and many welcome visitors for a tasting at the kitchen table.

Rakija

Before the meal comes rakija, the fruit or grape brandy offered as a welcome in every home. Loza, made from grapes, is the most common.

Our advice: order vranac by the glass with dinner, book the Šipčanik cellar tour ahead, and keep an afternoon for the family wineries of Crmnica on the way to Lake Skadar.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Vranac and the wines of Montenegro: the back story before you go.