We seek a wine bar. We have some directions to Kantina Binjakët but it is elusive. Some false starts and miming for directions later, we find the entrance – a sign points downstairs. We descend carefully, with no idea of what awaits. We couldn’t begin to guess what ensues.
A bear like man is waiting at the door, and on seeing us shouts “ARTISTES!” and enfolds us in hugs. We are not artists, but it doesn’t seem to matter, and this becomes a catch cry for the evening. He ushers us in to what is half wine cellar, half secret resistance bunker. Suddenly there’s two of him. Identical twins, Tom and Zef, who continue to shout Artistes! And hugs us like long lost cousins returning from the war.
They ply us with raki and unfermented grape juice, then take us on a tour of the cellar. We squeeze between rows of bottles and move deeper into the cellar, which reveals yet more bottles disappearing into darkness. We are stunned. There are racks and racks and racks of bottles; there are stainless steel tanks; there are barrels; there’s a still for the raki; there’s awards; there’s a papal blessing from Pope Leo XIV.
How much wine is in this cellar, we ask, or Google translate asks for us – ten thousand bottles and ten tonnes of wine – we assume in the tanks and barrels. Within minutes, we are sitting down and have a glass of the 2020 award winning Merlot in hand. Within ten minutes, we have several glasses in hand because refusing wine appears culturally impossible. While we exchange Q and A with Tom via google translate, Zef whips up a tray of cheese, fried potatoes, sausage and pork pieces. Communication is conducted entirely through dramatic hand gestures, pictures on phones, Google translate, much yelling of “ARTISTES!” and, of course, the universal language of nodding and smiling.
After a couple of hours we are wondering how to leave, but standing up and making for the door works quite nicely. How much? we ask, having no clue. “This is the hard part for me” Tom writes, but manages to come up with a figure of €60. We figure this is a bargain for wine, food, a cellar tour, emotional adoption by 65 year old twin Albanians, and having “ARTISTES!” screamed directly into our souls. Not to mention the mileage of a dinner party story for years to come.
We leave Kantina Binjakët slightly drunk, happily confused, and convinced we are ARTISTES, though not sure how or why.
