The Plantaže vineyards start on Podgorica’s doorstep, the flat sea of vines you cross on the approach into the airport, which makes this an easy first or last drive of a trip. The cellar and the family producers down in Crmnica are a short run south and suit any car, whether it is collected at Podgorica Airport on the way in or delivered to an address in the city.
The vineyard you fly over on landing
If you arrive at Podgorica Airport from the south or west, the flat expanse you cross on final approach is not scrub, it's the Ćemovsko polje vineyard of 13 Jul Plantaže, the state-founded winery that produces the bulk of Montenegro's commercial wine. At around 2,310 hectares in a single continuous block, it's routinely described as the largest single vineyard in Europe, and one of the largest in the world. It sits directly between the airport and the city.
The backbone of what's grown here is Vranac, Montenegro's signature red grape, deep, tannic, dark-fruited, and Krstač, a native white. Plantaže also grows Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Chardonnay on the same plain.
The Šipčanik cellar, a former aircraft hangar
The visitor highlight is the Šipčanik cellar, which sits under a low hill on the edge of the vineyard. Until 1999 this was an underground Yugoslav Air Force hangar, carved 150 m into the hillside. After NATO bombing damage during the Kosovo war, the tunnel was repurposed, it now holds more than two kilometres of oak barrels in a constant cool temperature. The name Šipčanik means place of the rose hip.
Tours run daily and are bookable in advance through the Plantaže visitor team, they include a walk through the tunnels and a seated tasting of several Vranac and Chardonnay bottlings, typically with a plate of Njeguši prosciutto and local cheese. A full tour takes around 90 minutes. Prices vary by the tasting tier chosen. Book ahead, especially in season; walk-ins are not guaranteed.
Getting there from Podgorica
The cellar is signed from the main E80 / E762 road between Podgorica and the airport. Drive time from the centre of Podgorica is around 15 to 20 minutes. From Podgorica Airport itself, under 10 minutes. There is a large free car park at the cellar gate.
If you are driving, take your share home in a bottle rather than in a glass, or leave the car and take a taxi for the return leg; taxis into town are inexpensive.
The cellar is a fifteen-minute drive from the city, so this works as a half day on the way to somewhere else, and a small car booked at the cheaper end of the fleet covers it comfortably.
South into Crmnica, family wineries
Crmnica is a small historic wine region tucked between Lake Skadar and the coastal mountains, about 35 to 45 km south of Podgorica. This is where Vranac has been grown for centuries on a village scale, and where you'll find the small family podrum (cellars) that pre-date Plantaže by generations. The drive is easy: the E80 south from Podgorica, exit for Virpazar, then small winding roads through Limljani, Sotonići, and Brčeli.
Several producers in and around Crmnica welcome visitors by appointment, the model is to phone or email a day or two ahead, arrive at the house, taste whatever is in barrel and bottle, buy a few litres if you like it, and leave. Do not turn up unannounced. Ask at your hotel or the tourist office in Virpazar for current contact details; the producers rotate.
The landscape on the Crmnica drive is worth the trip on its own, olive groves, pomegranate trees, and long views over the south end of Lake Skadar.
What to buy
- Vranac Pro Corde, Plantaže's flagship oak-aged Vranac. Bold, bramble-and-plum, holds well in bottle.
- Vladika, Plantaže's barrique-aged premium red. Limited release.
- Krstač, a dry native white, hard to find outside Montenegro. Worth buying a couple of bottles.
- From Crmnica family producers: unlabelled house Vranac by the litre, often bottled into reused glass. Inexpensive and honest.
Driving notes
Montenegro's blood-alcohol limit is zero for new drivers (first three years) and 0.3 g/L otherwise. Police checks on the roads around the wine regions are routine. The sensible rule is: one driver stays on water. If you're travelling solo, pick Šipčanik for the tasting and skip the Crmnica drive on the same day.
Cases take more boot space than people expect, so a mid-size with a square boot is worth the step up from a city car for this run. Every listing names the exact model with its own photographs, alongside the gearbox, the mileage terms, the cover level and the deposit held at collection.
At a glance
The booking question a wine day raises
If two of you intend to share the driving, add the second driver when you book. A driver who is not named on the contract is not covered, whatever cover tier you took, so it is not something to arrange informally in the car park once the tasting is over.
Beyond that the day asks little of the car. The roads south are good, the distances are short, and an economy or compact car is ample, with boot space the only real consideration if you intend to come home with cases rather than bottles. Most of the pool is automatic. If the tasting is booked for a specific slot, look for the cars offering free cancellation, marked in the search results, so a change of plan costs nothing. Collection is in Podgorica, either at the airport or delivered to a city address, which suits a morning that starts at a hotel rather than a terminal. Delivery is free on some cars and chargeable on others, and the listing says which before you book, so it is worth comparing two cars on the delivered price rather than the headline rate. The usual terms apply: free Minimum third-party cover on every rental, paid Basic, Full and no-deposit Full Plus tiers at checkout, a refundable deposit on a card at pickup on most cars, and no credit card needed on any of them.
