Montenegrin wine, from Crmnica Vranac to the cellar in a tunnel

Montenegro isn’t on many people’s wine map, and that’s a shame. It has a characterful grape of its own, Vranac, centuries of winemaking around Lake Skadar and one of the oddest cellars in Europe, tucked inside a tunnel that used to be a military airfield. To me, a visit to a family winery is among my favourite things to do inland.

The grapes

The national tourist board likes to call the country one of the cradles of viticulture and puts its native varieties first, Vranac, Kratošija, Krstač and Žižko, among others. Vranac is the star, the red that the same site describes as a national brand and treasure. Alongside them, wineries make Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, Marselan and Malvasia. The site suggests a tour of Vranac country, from the Podgorica subregion to Crmnica, its cradle, and Ulcinj, plus the sweet Doljani Vranac in the Katun and Rijeka nahijas.

Crmnica and Lake Skadar

The best-known vineyard areas, according to the national tourist board, are Crmnica, the nahijas, Komani, Bjelopavlići and the villages along Lake Skadar. The Bar tourist board says those villages have been making wine for more than 500 years, and it devotes a festival in Virpazar to wine and bleak, where the best wine and the best song about wine are chosen. This is the experience I’d recommend, a village winery with prosciutto, cheese, lake fish and a house Vranac. The national tourist board mentions the Radević, Mašanović, Krgović, Kopitović, Mola, Bogojević, Milović, Sjekloća, Buk and Rupice wineries, among others.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Virpazar before prices climb.

Plantaže and Šipčanik

A few kilometres from Podgorica, on Ćemovsko polje, the company 13. Jul - Plantaže farms 2,310 hectares, billed by the national tourist board as Europe’s largest single-plot vineyard, producing about 22 million kilos of grapes a year, with three cellars holding up to 33 million litres. The most famous is Šipčanik, a former secret military airfield more than 30 metres underground in a 356-metre tunnel, home to Lesendro, an archive wine from the 1979 vintage. Visits are booked by phone.

The coast and the monasteries

There’s wine on the coast too. Near Savina monastery in Herceg Novi, a family winery works vineyards that date back to the 18th century and ages Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in French oak, along with Chardonnay and a Grenache rosé. The national tourist board also points out that many churches and monasteries have their own vineyards.

If you would rather have a local show you round, book a guided tour in Virpazar and choose by the reviews.

Planning it

The national tourist board says local tourist offices hand out a wine-routes map for planning winery visits. My advice is not to drive between wineries but to stay in Virpazar, Podgorica or on the bay and use taxis or a tour, and remember Montenegro’s drink-driving limit is less than half of England’s, according to the Foreign Office. To know what to eat with each wine, see Montenegrin food.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Virpazar before prices climb.