Trebinje Wine Tour: the Heart of Bosnia’s Wine Country

Located less then 130 km from Mostar (80 miles) Trebinje area in Bosnia and Hercegovina is a world of its own. Limestone hills, small fertile pockets of land following the river flow, flocks of sheep and goats grazing and endless fields of vineyards will capture your imagination instantaneously.

After departing from Mostar, we will drive through the Herzegovinian region in the length of 130 km, passing through Stolac, Ljubinje, and next to Zavala and Cava Vjetrenica, we will reach the Tvrdoš Monastery where our first stop is. Orthodox monastery of Tvrdos from 15ct is place where monks have been producing wine for centuries until they blew up the monastery when it was about to be taken over by the Ottomans in 18ct. We will visit their ancient cellars and taste some of their best white and red wine. Your guide will explain about the wine and the current hard working monk life-style.

After tasting monk’s wine, we start by driving up to the top of Gracanica hill above Trebinje for great panoramic views of the city so that your guide can explain the geography of the area and show you all the spots that you will visit during the tour. A visit the Ortodox Church of Blessings (Hercegovačka Gračanica) standing at the top of the hill is also possible.

Old town of Trebinje was formed because Turks needed organization of their territories in Herzegovina due to great changes in wars with the Holy league (1683-1699) – the fall of Herceg Novi and Risan under the rule of Republic of Venice. It was built on the right bank of Trebišnjica, above the deepest part of the river – so called Ban-vir (vortex), named after a legend in which a ban (ruler) drowned in the vortex.

The most important person for the development of the Old town as a fort is Osman Pasha, founder of the Resulbegović family. He started the construction in 1714 but it was interrupted for a short time by the war with Venice. Builders were brought from Dubrovnik, and work force was from local area – Ljubinje, Cernica and Nikšić. During the next year a hendek (canal) was dug around it, which was connected to Trebišnjica. During Osman’s reign, Sultan Ahmed and Osman-pasha mosques were built, together with Sahat-kula (clock tower), which is still resistant to the many years that have passed.

Old town ‘Kastel’ was initially triangle-shaped and it became rounded over time. Its final shape, with all towers, canals and ramparts, was formed in the first four decades of 18^th century. In front of the entry gate (today’s tunnel) there was a draw-bridge that was leading across the canal. The canal was later filled and levelled due to a possibility of epidemic disease, as advised by doctor Levi. (1932)

After visiting the Old Town we can visit the Vukoje Wine Cellar 1982 which is close to the Old Town and is easy to reach on foot.

Finally we move 6 kilometers (4 miles) out to the hills beyond Trebinje to village of Tuli. There we stop in a family owned restaurant serving traditional domestic Bosnian food. We will have lunch accompanied with home made wine.

After dinner, we drive back to Mostar (around 90min drive depending on trafic) and you will be back in the hotel/apartment, just after sunset.