Çobo Winery, Berat: The Family Bringing Back the Puls Grape
In the late 1990s, Petrit and Muharrem Çobo were living and working in Italy. In 1998 and again in 1999, they came home to Berat for the harvest, made the wine, and went back. In 2000 they stayed. That was the year they bottled their first vintage, and the family still keeps a bottle of that 2000 Kashmer in its archive.
"We had a clear philosophy, and that is identity and quality."
Muharrem Çobo
We first met the brothers in 2022, and two years later we became partners. Çobo is one of the oldest wineries in Albania, and in the cellar they keep intervention low, so the wine tastes of the grape and the place. Their vineyards sit just outside Berat at Ura Vajgurore, running toward Mount Tomorr, with Berat castle in view.
The grape they care about most is Puls, an old white variety from Berat that had nearly fallen out of use until Çobo started making wine from it again. They also make a sparkling wine from it called Shendeverë, which rests in the bottle for 48 months before release. The name comes from an Albanian word for joy. Their Berat Red goes the other way: dark and full bodied, with black cherry and chocolate, and reviewers have compared it to Amarone.
For our event in Connecticut, the menu came from a Michelin starred chef, and we needed wines that could stand next to that food. We brought Çobo.
At a Glance
Berat · Brothers Petrit and Muharrem Çobo · Puls, Shesh i Zi, Shesh i Bardhë · With Me Zemër since 2022
Where to Start
Shendeverë 2021 for a celebration, or the Berat Red 2019 if you like a big, dark red.