Berat Wine Tasting: the Best Vineyards Near Berat
The last time I visited Berat, I explored local vineyards and did a wine tasting at four of Albanian’s top wine producers.
The area around Berat is perfect for wine tasting. All of these wineries are within a 30 minute drive of the city, and it’s easy to plan a half or full-day wine route by combining vineyards.
I was really surprised to discover how old and traditional Albania’s viticulture is. The wine here is excellent, much of it made with indigenous grapes. And the region around Berat is prime wine country.
Why Go Wine Tasting Near Berat
Berat is a very wine-conscious city, and visiting a local winery is a genuinely culturally authentic experience. Wine tasting also gives you the perfect excuse to get out of Berat and explore the countryside.
These are all local wine producers – the biggest producing 120,000 bottles a year. They have a charming, small-scale feel and are in peaceful villages or valley locations.
All use indigenous grapes, but many also grow merlot and chardonnay and blend them with Albanian varieties for some excellent wines.
The Best Vineyards Near Berat
These are the four wineries I visited near Berat. I did not do them on the same day, but broke it up over a few days and visited local agritourism restaurants at the same time.
Cobo Winery and Nurellari Winery were my favourites. I think the wines at these vineyards were exceptionally good.
I rented a car and drove to the wineries (part of a week long road trip), but you could use local Berat taxis to visit the vineyards.
1. Cobo Winery
I visited Cobo Winery on my way to Berat from Permet. It turned out to be one of the best wine tastings I did near Berat.
There’s a lovely indoor tasting room, but the outdoor wine garden is really beautiful. Sitting outside with views of Mount Tomorr surrounded by olive trees with the family dog lolling around made the experience feel relaxed and personal.
Cobo is a small family-run winery producing around 80,000 bottles a year, and you feel that family atmosphere when you visit. One of the daughters led our tasting, her mum showed us around the cellar, and dad was nearby helping out.
There are two tasting packages available and we tried one of each (2800 lek and 4500 lek – $35 and $55 USD). The classic tasting included olives, cheese, bread, two whites, two reds, and raki, while the upgraded version added extra wines, a sparkling, another raki, and cured meats.
The wines were all very good, but the whites were exceptional. I bought a bottle of their Shesh i Bardhe, an Albanian white grape variety, and it was one of the best Albanian whites I’ve tried.
One small note if you’re travelling with a dog – the family dog was not impressed with my little dog, so this is probably one to do without pets.
2. Alpeta Agrotourizem & Winery
Alpeta is surrounded by rolling green hills and vineyards, with snow-capped views of Mount Tomorr in the distance. The setting alone is worth the drive.
Wine tastings take place at 6:00 pm in a gorgeous outdoor courtyard covered by grape vines. They include a cellar and vineyard tour, three wines, two rakis, and appetizers for 2000 lek per person ($25 USD).
The timing didn’t work for us, so my daughter and I had lunch at the agritourism restaurant instead, and ordered glasses of the white a’Roshniku and the rosé Trendafil so we could try the wines.
Even without doing the full tasting, I could tell this would be a really special place for an evening wine experience. The food and wines weren’t my favourites from the Berat region, but the setting is absolutely stunning and would be incredibly romantic around sunset.
Alpeta is located in Roshnik, a charming village outside Berat, and you can stay overnight in one of the Alpeta guest rooms. I had a look around, and the rooms are beautiful. Guests can also swim in the lake during summer.
One useful thing to know if you drive here: there’s a large parking area at the very end of the road past the entrance. I didn’t realize this and squeezed onto the narrow road near the winery instead — so keep driving, the parking is there!
3. Pupa Winery & Guest House
Pupa Winery is very close to Nurellari Winery, so it’s easy to combine the two into a mini wine tour from Berat.
I would have done both on the same day, but I couldn’t get a reservation at Nurellari until the following afternoon, so I ended up returning the next day for that.
I really enjoyed the tasting here. We didn’t need a reservation, although tastings don’t begin until 1:00 pm. For 1500 lek ($18.50 USD) the tasting included a white, rose, red, raki, and appetizers, which is excellent value.
The tasting terrace outside is lovely, but there’s also a beautiful indoor dining and tasting room that would be especially nice in cooler weather.
Pupa also offers vineyard tours at 5:00 pm, although the vineyards themselves require an SUV to reach (they provide the drive). We arrived too early for the tour, but we did get to see the cellar and bottling room.
There’s also a restaurant and guest accommodation on-site, so you could easily turn this into a full agritourism stay with a wine tasting, dinner and overnight visit. The whole property has a peaceful countryside feel that makes you want to stay.
4. Nurellari Winery
My daughter and I both agreed this was our favourite wine tasting near Berat. It’s located very near Pupa Winery, so you could easily visit both.
The wines were exceptional, the setting was beautiful, and it felt like one of the most complete wine experiences we had in Albania. We learned a lot about the production process, but it never felt overly formal or intimidating.
The experience started with a tour of the cellar, bottling room, and fermentation area, which is housed inside an old communist era warehouse. This was the winery’s original production building before the new cellar, tasting room, and guest house were constructed.
One of the most interesting parts was seeing the wax seals being added by hand to the Superior Reserve bottles, their top wine. The fellow doing the sealing built the machine himself.
Nurellari currently produces around 85,000 bottles annually, but they’re already expanding. A new underground cellar is under construction and should open in 2027, increasing production capacity.
Despite the growth, it still feels very personal. The winery is family-run, and the owner’s brother-in-law gave us the tour. He had so much knowledge and genuine passion for the winemaking process. You can tell how proud the family is of what they’re building here.
That passion really comes through in the wines because every single one we tasted was excellent.
How to Plan a Wine Tasting Day in Berat
I visited these wineries over several days. It’s hard to combine them all into one day, since they are in different directions, but you could easily visit 3 of them in one day, and visit Cobo Winery on your way to Berat.
This is exactly how I would do a wine tasting day from Berat, while adding Cobo Winery on my way to or from the city:
- Nurellari Winery: Begin here. Tastings start at 11:00 am. We needed a reservation.
- Pupa Winery: Very close to Nurellari Winery. Tastings start at 1:00 pm. We didn’t need a reservation, but it never hurts.
- Alpeta Agrotourizem & Winery: Wine tastings and vineyard tours at 6:00 pm. If you’re too early, have a meal at nearby Kodra e Gjelber Agroturizem, one of the best agritourism restaurants in Albania.
How to Get to the Wineries Near Berat
I rented a car and drove to the wineries, but you don’t have to. You could hire a taxi (they also act as private transfers) for the day or half day, but negotiate the price up front.
All of these wineries are within half an hour of Berat, and on paved roads. The driving is fairly easy once you get out of the city. I found driving in Berat challenging with the traffic and narrow streets. Backing a car up a narrow street to allow another car to pass is not my favourite thing to do!
In Albania I always rent cars through Discover Cars. I’ve had pretty good luck with them, apart from a couple of tire mishaps because some of the roads are terrible!
If you don’t want to worry about transport, you can take this guided tour that visits one of the local vineyards near Berat for a traditional wine tasting.
Good to Know About Wine Tasting in Albania
I’ve done a lot of wine tastings in Albania. I try to visit as many vineyards as I can around where I’m staying. Here’s a few things to keep in mind:
- It’s best to call ahead to confirm opening days and times. Not all vineyards are open year round for tastings, and some only do them at certain times.
- Wine tastings in Albania always come with food. I have been served everything from simple cheeses, olives and bread to multiple plates of hot and cold foods.
- There is raki. Wine tastings around Berat always ended with 1 or 2 rakis.
- Wine tastings aren’t cheap. The least expensive I did was 1500 lek ($18.50 USD), but most of them cost around 2800 lek ($35 USD). I sometimes paid up to 4500 lek ($55 USD) for upgraded tastings with extra wines and food.
- Tastings take about 1.5 hours. Nobody will rush you out.
Berat’s Wine Festival
Every October Berat hosts a 3 day wine festival called “Wine & Stories of Berat.” I was there for the 2025 festival which is how I discovered Albania’s extensive viticulture and the wineries in the region.
If you happen to be in Berat at that time, it’s a great way to sample wines from from across Albania and talk to the people doing the wine making.
Last Words on Wine Tasting Near Berat
Wine tasting gave me the perfect excuse to get out of the city and explore the countryside around Berat. The vineyards were beautiful, most with views of Mt. Tomorr, the food all local, and the wines excellent.
These are small family-run wineries, and the people pouring the tastings and showing you around the cellars are often the ones making the wine. It gives the whole experience a personal feel.
