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Every year, six members of the Djurisic family get together to work on the harvest from 7am until 7pm to produce 2,000 litres of wine endemic to Montenegro. It isn’t just the old-timers continuing their tradition of wine-making here though. Grandson Nemanja Djurisic and wife Jana Djurisic are slowly beginning to take on responsibilities at the vineyard, hosting tastings and organising kayaking trips to Lake Skadar for guests wanting to team their wine tour with adventures in the nearby national park.
“We both have jobs in the city,” says 28-year-old Jana, “but coming out here, being in nature, waking to the birdsong in the morning and continuing this tradition is really what we love.”
I visit the Radevic vineyard, just a short drive from Montenegrin capital Podgorica, which (perhaps to Marko’s dismay) actually produces French varieties of wine. Since their first harvest 10 years ago, Montenegrin-American husband and wife duo Goran and Renee Radevic have developed award-winning syrah, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay and a rosé as well as a distinct white port after restoring the family vineyard, following 26 generations of winemakers.
“We used to dream about this vineyard and, after Hurricane Ivan hit where we were living in the Cayman islands in 2004 and we had to be evacuated, we decided we’d come and finally do this,” says Renee of the couples’ decision to pour their life savings into the estate.
Now the pair host wine tours at the neatly tended vineyard and ship their wine to private buyers in Hong Kong, Germany, Switzerland and (Goran is proud to say) France. Tastings can go on for hours, with the couple – Montenegrin style – insisting aggressively on second helpings of prosciutto, cheeses and Renee’s homemade chutneys.
On a much bigger scale, Plantaze, Montenegro’s largest vineyard, exports wine to more than 40 countries and its cellar – an old military base – is now home to thousands of barrels of wine. Its purple vranac, punctuated with cherries, is so heavy-bodied and sweet that sommelier Bojan Bracanovic warns me “you’ll need a fork to taste this one”. Light it is not, but served with a thick meat stew typical of the region it goes down a treat.
After four days of wine exploration, I end my journey on the coast at Herceg Novi, sipping a very pale rosé at Castel Savina, the only vineyard on Montenegro’s southwestern coastline, perfectly perched above the Bay of Kotor. I watch sailing boats bob in and out of the bay, and wonder if the people yachting around Montenegro’s coast will ever taste the true fruits of this land.
Travel essentials
Getting there
Ryanair flies to Podgorica from £33 return.
Visiting there
The Porto Novi resort in the Bay of Kotor organises wine tastings, tours and excursions from its lifestyle centre. Email enquiries@portonovi.com for a bespoke vineyard tour.
Source link : https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/europe/montenegro-wine-adriatic-vineyard-travel-europe-a9018626.html
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Publish date : 2019-07-27 07:00:00
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