The area around Berat, Albania is well known (at least in Albania) for producing wine with local Albanian grapes, many of which I had never heard of (and still cannot remember). Loving wine and really loving the wine that we tasted in Montenegro and Croatia in 2019, Dan and I visited two wineries in the Berat area on our vacation to Albania last summer – Çobo Winery and Alpeta Agorturismo. We enjoyed the tastings and tours and I would recommend an afternoon visit to one of these wineries while visiting Berat. This article reviews our time at each winery.

ÇOBO WINERY – more authentic feeling, tasty sparkling wine, a good meat, cheese, & olive pairing

Our Berat wine adventure began about 25 minutes outside of Berat at Çobo Winery, which is mentioned in many a guide books discussing Berat. Side note, “Çobo” is pronounced nothing like it looks.

We arrived at Çobo and drove up what appeared to be a residential driveway. And, it may have been a residential driveway, but it was also the entrance to Çobo. Our driver parked and walked us inside, where we were greeted by a Çobo employee. The employee gave us a quick history lesson on Çobo and a brief tour of the facilities, which were pretty tiny. The highlight for me was the wine themed mosaic in the cellar.

After our little tour, we circled back to the tasting room to try several tastings, or really glasses, of Çobo wines. Most were made with local grapes, so I could not keep track of exactly what we were drinking. Out wine was paired with an abundance of snacks – local olives, Albanian cheese (it is so good!), bread with local olive oil, and some local pork products. We tried raki, the Albanian national spirit, after our wine and ended the tasting with Çobo’s sparking wine, a rarity in these parts. The sparkling wine was done in the Champagnois method, and I loved it. Had the bottle not been close to $40 USD, I would brought some home to the US.

ALPETA AGROTURISMO – very pretty setting, good raki

After Çobo Winery, we drove back toward Berat, turned left, and drove up a very windy mountain to Alpeta Agroturismo. The drive, while windy, was stunning! Alpeta Agroturismo is a European agroturismo, comprised of a small hotel as well as farm, this one which makes wine! Alpeta started back in 1994 by the Fiska family and has been producing wine since. Per Alpeta, its specialty are red wines, including merlot and cabernet, white made from the local Pulez grape, and traditional raki. Alpeta is a very beautiful property. I would love to stay there another time.

The best part of our tour was the finale, lunch! We dined al fresco overlooking the beautiful surrounding mountains. For lunch, we enjoyed a traditional Albanian lunch, complete with Albanian cheese (like Feta), grilled vegetables, tomatoes, some meat, and the tastiest spinach pie. We also tasted three wines and two raki. All were quite good. Dan particularly liked the raki. I think we purchased another bottle of this.

I cannot leave this write up without mentioning one of the most interesting things at Alpeta – the wine barrel themed toilet! LOL.

In sum, if you are visiting Berat and you like wine, visit one of these wineries. Both visits were relatively short and well worth the price. We took a tour with Tirana Day Trips but you can absolutely do this much cheaper on your own with a car or a taxi (just make sure the taxi knows you need them to return).

STEAL OUR TRIP

Çobo Winery: Ura Vajgurore, 1001, Albania. Open daily. I suggest an appointment to ensure someone is there to do the tour and tasting.

Alpeta Agroturismo & Winery: Roshnik, Roshnik Qendër 4012, Albania. Open daily 11:00 – 10:00, kitchen 12:00 – 8:00.

Our tour: We took the Grand Wine Tasting Tour of Berat for 130/person. You can absolute do this for less than a 4th of the cost on your own. Our tour guide was just a driver who ferried us around in his personal car, but he was very nice and a safe driver.