Winemaking in Albania

The region of today's Albania is probably one of the few where grapes were preserved during the ice age ^[5] . Even in pre-Roman times and before the ancient Greek colonization , viticulture existed here: Illyrians produced wine here already in the 8th century BC. e. regardless of neighboring nations. The oldest seeds found in the region are between 4,000 and 6,000 years old ^{[2] [3] [6]} . Various historical drawings, including 2 centuries BC e., and mosaic in the baptistery of the city of Butrint of the 6th century testify to the social significance of wine ^[7] . Wines were primarily produced for domestic consumption ^[2] .

Ottoman catalogs of the 15th century already share traditional vineyards and individual grape arbors or pergolas arranged in gardens or on plantations of trees ^[8] . In Ottoman times, winemaking was in decline, it persisted only in some predominantly Christian areas ^[9] . After independence, viticulture began to spread rapidly, but this growth was stopped in 1933 due to grape phylloxera ^[5] .

The sharp rise in viticulture resumed only after the end of World War II , at the end of which vineyards occupied only 2737 ha ^[5] . In particular, in the communist period, grapes were grown around Durres in state-owned enterprises ^[7] . The area of ​​vineyards throughout the country was comparable to the area of tobacco plantations , but was much inferior to olive and fruit orchards. 40 percent of the products were produced by state-owned enterprises, which owned only 20 percent of the vineyards. Most of the vineyards belonged to rural partnerships. A significant part of the production fell on grape pergolas ^[7] . Wine in this period was produced mainly for domestic consumption ^[2] . Exports continuously decreased from 61,000 hectoliters in 1971 to 22,000 hectoliters in 1985. The reasons are primarily in outdated production conditions and lack of equipment, which made transportation difficult and reduced the quality of the product. At the same time, export of raisins easy to transport increased (up to 3,500 tons per year), export of fresh grapes was insignificant. Of the 20,000 hectares of vineyards, then 70% were used for making wine ^[5] , up to 450,000 hectoliters per year ^[7] . The most common varieties included foreign ones such as Merlot , Cabernet , Pinot Noir , Sangiovese and Riesling ; besides sweet , two sparkling wines were also produced. ^{[10] [11] [12]} . Although grape production was important, the authorities tried not to advertise this topic, since wine consumption is poorly compatible with communist ideals ^[7] .

During the transition to a market economy, vineyard areas decreased significantly, many of them were abandoned or destroyed ^[15] . Only in the late 1990s, a number of local farmers again began professionally engaged in winemaking, so now local wines are again available in the domestic market. In order to satisfy the high demand for vines, mainly imported varieties from neighboring countries are grown ^{[12] [15]} . In the crisis of 1997, according to official figures, wine was produced on only 4300 ha of vineyards ^[16] .

The large state wine company in Durres was privatized only in 2001 ^[17] .

The vines are cultivated almost throughout the country. There are four vegetation zones: coastal plains, hills with heights of up to 600 meters (Mirdita in the north, Elbasan and Libardzh in the central part, Gramshi und Permeti in the south), foothills up to 800 meters ( Pogradec , Korcha , Dibra and Leskovik, as well as mountainous areas from up to 1000 or even up to 1300 meters ^{[5] [18]} .

The most important wine-growing regions include traditional, mainly Catholic regions around Shkoder , hills around Tirana , as well as the surroundings of the cities of Berat , Durres , Korcha and Lushnya ^[2] . In coastal areas, grapes are often grown on the plains, in southern areas also on artificial terraces ^[7] .

A number of local grape varieties have been preserved in Albania ^[18] . These include Pulës , Debin e bardhë and Shesh i bardhë white wines, Debin e zezë , Kallmet , Serina , Shesh i zi and Vlosh red wines ^{[2] [5]} . Varieties Bishtdhelpra , Gomaresha , Mereshnik , Kryqëz , Maltëz, and Tajka are not widely used and are threatened with extinction ^[18] .

White and red Shesh grapes, originating from the village of the same name west of Tirana, are the most common (up to 35%). During the Ottoman period, viticulture in this region was oppressed. In the communist period, red Shesh, also known as Galeçik , was distributed throughout the country and was grown at heights of up to 800 meters. This grape tolerates drought and gives a large harvest ^[19] . It was grown in the Mirdita region on marl-calcareous soils and in coastal central Albania on sandy loams or sandy soils. In Western Europe, white grapes of this variety were partially sold as Riesling ^[7] .

Kallmet grapes , probably originally a variant of the Kadarka variety and originating from the region of Lake Shkodra , are closely connected with the village of the same name from the Jadrim Plain south of the lake. It is characteristic of all coastal hilly regions of northern Albania, but is also grown in the central and southern parts of the country ^[20] . He prefers gravel soils. In the communist period, wine from this grape was exported to East Germany and Poland under the name Merlot ^[7] .

Pulës grapes come from central and southern Albania, it is mainly grown in orchards and used for the production of Raki ^[21] .

Vlosh grapes come from the village of Narta north of Vlora , Debina grapes - from the south-east of the country ^{[5] [16]} . Serina grapes come from rolling hills on the western edge of the Korca Plain. There are a number of local varieties like Verë Leskoviku or Verë Përmeti , named for the region of their origin ^[22] .

Today, about 13% of Albanian peasant farms use part of their land for growing grapes ^[23] . However, they usually allocate only a few hundred square meters for grapes, and in rare cases more than 3,000 ^[15] . In all regions of the country, almost every garden has vines, sometimes even in cities ^[7] . In some regions, there are still no vineyards, but only pergolas that cling to fruit trees and are easier to maintain ^[8] . Mostly home-made wines and musts are made from grapes for their own needs, as well as rakiya grape vodka ^[7] , the production of which takes up to 50% of the grape harvest. Rakia is a traditional drink on various holidays. Less commonly used is the Skënderbeu brandy, made from fermented Pekmez grape syrup, raisins and vinegar . About 20% of the grape harvest goes to wine production ^{[3] [15] [16]} .

Only a small proportion of Albanian wine is exported. By 2006, exports amounted to 49 hectoliters (in the amount of 2 million lek), while 20 282 hectoliters were imported (in the amount of 343 million lek.) ^[24] . In 2013, the export volume increased to 95 hectoliters (in the amount of 8 million lek), while imports remained virtually unchanged and amounted to 22,408 hectoliters (in the amount of 766 million lek) ^[25] .

Domestic consumption of wine is not very high and is about three liters per year per person ^[1] .

In Albania, there is a shortage of qualified specialists ^[15] . The products of many winemakers do not pass any examination or state control ^{[3] [26]} . Often the content does not match the label ^[27] .

In Albania, there are no bans on planting grapes. State and foreign research organizations contribute to the expansion of viticulture ^{[28] [29] [30]} . But often the choice of soil and grape variety is not based on any scientific criteria ^[22] .

Footnotes

Sources

• Gabriel Jandot: Le vignoble albanais du national-marxisme: silences et omniprésence. unpubliziert, 2005 ( Vorabpublikation (PDF; 1.1 MB) Zusammenfassung eines Referats am Symposium Le vin et la mondialisation, Perspectives historiques et enjeux contemporains (XIXè-XXè siècles) an der Universität Dijon vom 15. September 2005).
• Spiro Shkurti: Der Mythos vom Wandervolk der Albaner: Landwirtschaft in den albanischen Gebieten (13.-17. Jahrhundert). In: Karl Kaser (Hrsg.): Albanologische Studien. Band 1. Böhlau, Wien 1997, ISBN 3-205-98622-9 , Weinbau, S. 139-174.