WINE TASTING EXPERIENCE IN OLD CELLAR IN CRMNICA
Kotor – coastal panoramic ride – panorama Budva – stop for photo shoots of St. Stefan Island – Virpazar & Lake Skadar (stop for a boat ride) – Wine tasting (about 2 hrs) – Kotor
Duration: 7 to 8 hrs
Additional – on request: Wine tasting paired with food
PANORAMAS of Kotor, Budva and St. Stefan are breathtaking. The amazing scenery of the mountains disappearing in the water, endless views of the sea and sky, and the mighty walls with their imposing watchtowers, looming over the medieval cities and dramatic fortifications edging the sea cliffs, make these ancient cities an impressive sight.
VIRPAZAR a tiny town, gathered around a square and a river blanketed with water lilies serves as the main gateway to Lake Skadar National Park. It may be a small speck on the map now, but it was once considered so strategically important that the occupying Turks built a large fortress on the hill looming above the village. After their downfall, Virpazar became an important trading town (pazar means marketplace) with a lively port; in the early 1900s, it was connected to Bar by Montenegro's first narrow-gauge railway. It was also the site of one of the country's first significant uprisings against Axis invaders in WWII. Two reminders of its past still stand in - and over the town.
LAKE SKADAR is the largest lake at the Balkan Peninsula, with fresh water and one of the largest national parks in Montenegro. It's extremely famous for its diversity of flora and fauna. Lake itself is unusual for mutual vicinity of different living areas and their chain of feeding. It's a blissfully pretty area encompassing steep mountains, island monasteries, clear waters, and floating meadows of water lilies. The lake is a crypto depression, which means that in some parts the bottom of the lake is below the sea level. Those places are named sublacustrine springs or eyes ("oka"). In this lake about 30 such eyes have been found. In region of Lake Skadar there are 20 monasteries, churches, villages, fortresses and sacred monuments. This lake is witness of Montenegrin history from 11th century up to now. Around Lake itself there are 18 important historic monuments. You will have a chance to enjoy a boat ride on this spectacular lake.
WINE TASTING IN OLD CELLAR – The cellar of this winery is located in the area of the former vineyard and wine cellar of King Nikola. The vineyard is located on the site of the former ruler of Montenegro, Ivan Crnojević's summer house, 2.5 km from the cellar, in untouched nature at 10 m above sea level in Orahovsko polje, where the former family’s wine cellar was destroyed in the 1979 earthquake. From the planted 6 varieties of vines (Vranac, Kratoshija, Marselan, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese), the winery is engaged in the production of limited quantities. Harvesting is exclusively manual; care is taken in the selection of each bunch and the selection of each variety separately. A family winery with a tradition spanning more than ten generations, produces exclusively top quality red barrique wines, in the heart of the most famous wine and viticulturally region in Montenegro, in Crmnica. The tasting room is also a kind of museum of the family. The wines are aging in the best quality French oak barrels, where the age of the barrels is taken into account - after 3 years of use, they are replaced with new ones, and furniture is created from the used ones, which gives the winery authenticity and the spirit of tradition. Bottles of elegant design and high-quality glass are imported from Italy, while cork stoppers are supplied from Portugal.
Since 1969, the family has been producing limited quantities of top-quality wine and brandy, using modern wine production technology: storage in oak barrels "barrique". The family continues the centuries-old tradition of making top quality red wines and brandies. The wine obtained from the Vranac grape variety, is named after the "Fleur-de-lys" decoration, which the family's ancestors received from the French King Valois in the 16th century. In addition to it, there is also another the red wine, obtained by blending 3 varieties of grapes, declared by the tasting committee as the Champion of Quality of the Novi Sad Fair with 92.3 points. One more wine, which is a blend of five grape varieties, is named after the noble family, whose palace is still located in Kotor, under UNESCO protection, and who are the ancestors of this famous wine making family. Taking care to ensure that the name of each wine is symbolically and historically connected to the family's tradition, another wine was produced after one family's summer house, a superb red semi-sweet wine, obtained from the late harvest of slightly dried but evenly ripened grapes on the vine in limited quantities. In this wine cellar you can also see their archive - Reserve wines, intended for special occasions, and obtained only from the best screening harvests and the best weather conditions, in very limited series. In addition, the winery produces small quantities of grape brandy, fruit brandies made from peach, kiwi, apple, pomegranate, plum and quince, as well as homemade juices made from fruit from their orchard.
This tour can be booked with licensed tour guides speaking English, Spanish, German, French and Italian.
The tour can be modified (shortened or pronged) to suit your personal preferences and adjusted according to your wishes.
