📍 Tirana

Tirana is Albania's capital and also a wine area of its own, with vineyards on the hills around the city. It sits on the coastal plain, below 300 metres. With Durrës it is counted as the homeland of Shesh, a white and a red grape named after an old village called Shesh.

Red Shesh in the glass is garnet, with cherries, blackberries and earthy spice, and soft velvety tannins. It suits roast meat, game and pasta with a rich sauce. White Shesh is pale straw, with green apple, peach and bright acidity, and it goes with seafood and soft cheese. White Shesh has even been tested under Tirana's own climate, and lab analyses are done at the Agricultural University of Tirana.

For Tirana this is also a market. A 2016 review says the capital and Durrës have the most purchasing power in the country, and a winemaking cluster sits between the two cities. The county's own numbers are modest: 1,611 hectolitres of home-made wine in 2012 and 520 hectolitres from wineries in 2013.

Against its neighbours, Durrës makes almost twenty times as much winery wine as Tirana, while Elbasan is a notch higher at 628 hectolitres. All three belong to Central Albania.