📍 Durrës
Also known as: Durrës, Durres, Durazzo wine area, Durrës wine region
Seaside hills around Durrës, where almost half of Albania's winery wine was made in 2013.
Durrës is a seaside wine area in central Albania, on a plain that stays under 300 metres. Both Sheshes grow here, the white Shesh i Bardhë and the red Shesh i Zi. For winery wine nobody comes close: in 2013 the county made 9,998 hectolitres, 45 percent of the national total of 22,352.
The sea keeps temperatures moderate, and white Shesh from the coast is pale straw, with green apple, peach and crisp acidity. It likes seafood. The 2016 review of Albanian viticulture adds that the production cluster sits between Tirana and Durrës, and that these two cities are the biggest urban markets.
Households made wine too, 3,998 hectolitres in 2012. The authors themselves warn against leaning on such figures, because not every winery is registered and not every one reports.
Against Tirana, Durrës makes almost twenty times as much winery wine, and against Elbasan about sixteen times. New vines across the country are mostly international, Merlot among them. It all belongs to Central Albania and Albanian wine.
Facts
| Country | Albania 1 |
|---|---|
| Region | Coastal plain below 300 m, between Tirana and Durrës 12 |
| Cultivars | White and red Shesh, Kallmet, Debina, Vlosh 2 |
How it connects to Wine
📍 Durrës ← grows in ← 🍇 Merlot → kind of → 🍇 Grape varieties → kind of → 🍷 Wine
Links
- Part of
- 📍 Central Albania
- Grapes
- 🍇 Merlot
Frequently asked questions
How much winery wine does Durrës make?
In 2013 the county made 9,998 hectolitres, 45 percent of the national 22,352.
Which grapes grow near Durrës?
White and red Shesh, Kallmet, Debina and Vlosh, on a coastal plain below 300 metres.
Is Durrës a Shesh homeland?
A tour brochure calls the hills of Tirana and Durrës the homeland of Shesh.
What goes with white Shesh from the coast?
Seafood, according to the GIZ brochure, thanks to its pale straw colour, green apple and peach notes.
Is it true that Albanian wine statistics are exact?
Not quite. The review warns that not all wineries are registered and not all report their output.
Similar
📍 Tirana · 📍 Elbasan · 📍 Sottoceneri · 📍 Taraclia · 📍 Cahul · 📍 Kırklareli
Sources
- Misha A., Memaj F. Analysis of the vineyards sector in Albania. Economic Vision 3(5-6), 2016
- GIZ. Discover the Unique Heritage of Albanian Wine: wine tour brochure, 2026