TRAVEL: HERZEGOVINA
With Mostar named European City of Wine Dionisio 2024, now is the perfect time to explore Herzegovina. This hidden corner of the Balkans has a viticultural history that dates back two millennia and revolves around two unusual local grapes
Herzegovina, the smaller, southern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, has at least 2,000 years of viticultural history, but it has really blossomed during the last 20. More than 30 modern wineries dot this sun-drenched strip abutting Croatia. Alongside these contemporary vineyards, the majority of families in this region of roughly 350,000 inhabitants make their own wine. Only-try-here bottles of humble yet hearty ‘vina’ are sold on the roadside next to wild honey and pomegranates. Bordeaux it isn’t.
Wine-tasting in Herzegovina – a resolutely welcoming experience, where wine is often paired with pršut (local prosciutto) – revolves around two indigenous grapes. Blatina is a madcap red that erupts in the glass like a plum volcano. Yet it’s tricky to grow even here. Its flowers are autosterile, meaning they can’t fertilise themselves and the vines must be planted with another variety, though this still doesn’t guarantee fruit production, hence the variety’s nickname: ‘empty barrel’. The Austro-Hungarian emperors, who ruled Herzegovina from 1878 until World War I, preferred the zingy, mineral-rich white Žilavka. In the words of one of Herzegovina’s hottest young winemakers, Milena Anđelić: ‘Our guests didn’t fly thousands of miles to try Cab Sauv.’
Opened in 2007 and upgraded and re-launched in 2023, the Herzegovina Wine Route (hwr.ba), which starts in the pretty regional capital of Mostar, reveals this burgeoning wine region to a wider audience. This year, 300 wine-friendly hotels, restaurants and experiences are expected to join the 30-odd wineries on an interactive route map, alongside canoeing, bike trails and historic towns in the hilly hinterland. Best of all, the route unites wine lovers of all faiths in a region once riven by difference. Visit now and you’ll be among the first to sip the latest generation of one-off wines.
STRIKING OUT FROM MOSTAR
Andrija Ćorić is vice president of the Herzegovina Wine Route. His great-grandfather Šimun soldiered for 12 years for the Austro-Hungarian Empire and was repaid with some sloping, stony land in the village of Paoča near Čitluk. Here the Andrija vineyard (podrumiandrija.com), named after Šimun’s son, was established, a 30-minute rollercoaster drive southwest from Mostar. In 2019, the historic winery was modernised, and it’s now a viticultural playground with a wine library, stroll-through cellars, tasting rooms, boutique guestrooms and a gourmet restaurant. ‘God gave us stones,
