Wine & Rakija

Takovo Viljamovka — a Serbian pear rakija distilled from ripe Williams Bartlett pears. Crisp, aromatic, and orchard-fresh; the country's most plant...

A glass of deep red pomegranate wine on the table is how many Caucasus family dinners begin, poured before the toasts start. Caucasus Valley makes ...

A bottle of red wine opened for Sunday lunch, with the smoke of the grill drifting in and the whole family around the table, is the kind of afterno...

A bottle of Rubin on the table means a Serbian celebration, from Kruševac to every diaspora wedding. Rubin Cabernet Sauvignon is a dry red wine fro...

In the limestone hills of Slovenian Istria, harvest evenings end with a glass of deep red poured straight from the cellar. Vina Koper Rex Merlot is...

Travarica, grape rakija steeped with herbs, is the small glass a Croatian host pours to welcome guests, above all along the Dalmatian coast. This i...

In the Charente countryside a bottle of XO waits in the sideboard for the guest who deserves the good pour. This is Cognac XO from Maison A. de Vac...

Alexandria Cuvee is the red North Macedonian hosts pour when they want Tikves's valley wines shown at their boldest, brought out at a family Sunday...

In Vojvodina's fruit-wine country of northern Serbia, chokeberry (aronija) is treated as seriously for wine as it is for jam, and pouring a glass s...

In Bulgaria's Karnobat region, autumn grape harvests have long been distilled into rakia poured for guests as a mark of hospitality. This is Karnob...

The bottle comes out the moment guests sit down at the table — a small pour of travarica before the food arrives, the way it's poured in every Croa...

Badel Williams Pear Brandy — a Croatian viljamovka from Badel 1862, capturing ripe Williams pear in distilled form. Crystal-clear, perfumed, and or...

Badel Prima — a smooth Croatian grape brandy from Badel 1862, Zagreb's heritage distillery. The everyday-flagship grape brandy of the Croatian liqu...

Williams pear brandy was the clear rakija saved for toasting big news, poured carefully into tiny glasses. This Badel Williams is a spirit distille...

Badel Travarica — a Croatian herbal rakija from Badel 1862, the country's most iconic herbal brandy expression. Grape spirit macerated with Mediter...

A small glass of raki rrushi is the welcome drink poured for guests the moment they walk through the door in an Albanian or Montenegrin home. Malës...

Badel Komovica — a Croatian grape pomace rakija from Badel 1862, Croatia's oldest distillery. Distilled from the pressed grape skins of Dalmatian a...

Skënderbeu V.S.O.P Konjak — an Albanian aged brandy named after Skanderbeg, Albania's national hero who led fifteenth-century resistance to Ottoman...

Tikveš Lozova Rakija — a Macedonian grape brandy from the Tikveš winery in the larger family-table format. Clean, warming, and traditional; the eve...

Lozova rakija was the grape brandy poured for guests the moment they stepped through the door, a shot before anything else was said. This Montenegr...

In many Croatian homes, a full bottle of rakija like this waited in the cabinet for toasts at weddings and holidays. Badel 1862 d.d. of Zagreb, Cro...

Šljivovica was the plum brandy poured into small glasses for every toast at a family slava or wedding, the smell of ripe plums right there in the g...

Bucuria Țuică de Prune — a Moldovan plum țuică in the larger family-table format. Smooth, traditional, and warming; the Romanian-Moldovan everyday ...

A small glass of apricot rakija, poured at the end of a family gathering, warms the room before anyone says a word. Bucuria's Jó Pálinka is a Moldo...