Kosovo wine, from the Rahovec valley to Velika Hoča

Few people fly into Pristina thinking about wine, and to my mind that is precisely why the subject is worth a look. There is a valley with a long tradition, a huge winery inherited from the Yugoslav state system and a protected village of small cellars. That adds up to a very good afternoon.

The Rahovec valley

The wine comes from Rahovec (Orahovac in Serbian), in the south of the territory, within the Gjakova region. The archived copy of the government tourism portal credits the municipality with almost 14,000 hectares of farmland and lists vines among its crops. Stone Castle, the largest winery, describes the valley as sunny hills on clay and limestone, with a continental climate tempered by the Mediterranean, morning mists and warm afternoons.

Stone Castle, heir to the state winery

According to its own history, it began as NBI Rahoveci, a state winery the Yugoslav government built to boost wine in the valley, founded in 1953. In 2006 it was bought by the Gecaj family, led by Rrustem Gecaj, and renamed. Today it claims 700 hectares of vines between 330 and 550 m, bottles only its own grapes and ages its wine in an underground cellar of more than 5 million litres, kept at 13 to 16°C, in Hungarian oak. It bills itself as the territory’s largest vineyard and wine producer, which is the house’s own word on the matter.

Its varieties include plenty of international names, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot and Pinot Noir among them, alongside regional grapes such as Vranac (Vranç in Albanian), Smederevka and Prokupac. I would head straight for those. A Kosovan Chardonnay is a curiosity; a Rahovec Vranac tells you where you are.

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Grape rakia and more

The winery’s catalogue goes beyond wine. It sells grape rakia, Raki Rrushi, in two versions carrying 42 and 49 in their names, and an aged spirit, Verak, at 10 and 25 years. There is also an amphora red, a sparkling wine, a rosé and 5 litre bag-in-boxes of Riesling and Vranac. If you are curious about rakia, which Pristina’s tourist brochure names as the traditional drink in its bars, this is a way to try the grape version from a producer with a name, and a bottle travels home better than most souvenirs.

Velika Hoča, the counterpoint

About 5 km from Rahovec is Velika Hoča, known as Hoçë e Madhe to Albanian speakers and the only village the Special Protective Zones law covers in its entirety. OpenStreetMap shows several wineries in the village, and the Culture Ministry’s record for the Spasić house, built in 1830-1835, says it has run as a bed-and-breakfast since 2010. I found no published visiting hours or tastings, so the best plan is to ask on the spot.

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Fitting it into your trip

Rahovec sits in the south, between Prizren and Gjakova, so a day trip from either is the natural way to do it; the background is on the Gjakova region page. And if you are tasting, let someone else drive. For me the best time for this trip is September, as I explain in Kosovo in autumn. Kosovo’s other drink, the beer from Peja, is covered on Peja beer.