Lauku labumi Vidzeme

Tourists can learn about the history of the estate and the brewing of beer, beginning with raw materials and ending with finished products. The visit is enriched by tastings of live beer and stories about Latvia’s traditional holiday beverage. Alongside the brewery is a store which sells live beer, homemade goodies and selected souvenirs.

The “Valmiermuižas alus virtuve” saloon popularises Latvian beers and uses beer in various dishes. A modern approach to homemade products is used to prepare foods and beer-based snacks. There is a beer garden during the summer, and the saloon merges traditional things with modern ones.

Latvian cuisine: Smoked pork, filet of pike from Lake Burtnieks, green pea mash, with loganberries, quince, pumpkin birch juice and mushroom sauce as accompaniments.

Special foods: Slice of pork marinated in unfiltered winter beer.

Abuls is one of the most experienced cider makers in Latvia. They craft artisanal cider near Smiltene, in Northern Vidzeme.

Our Story 
Cider making began in 2000, with passionate experimentation using local apples each year. Later, inspiration was drawn from visiting cider regions in Normandy, Asturias, Somerset, and the Basque Country. Since 2018, cider has been made in a newly built cider cellar near an orchard, at the very source of the Abuls River.

Apples
The cider orchard hosts about 400 apple trees - some are special English cider apples, local wild apples, paradise apples, and local late autumn apple varieties. True apple varieties are also sought on expeditions in Latvian nature - in forest edges, ditches, and abandoned gardens.

Ciders
The ciders are crafted using white wine-making techniques, which help preserve the freshness and local apple aroma as much as possible. All Abuls ciders are handmade. The cider is also fermented using the wild yeasts found on apple skins, which adds a natural sweetness of apple juice.

For Visitors 
The offer includes a tour of the cidery and orchard, a tasting of all available ciders, stories about cider culture, and the cider-making process.

Where to Buy 
The cider is available in bottles and on tap in kegs. Abuls ciders can be purchased in bars, cafes, and stores, as well as in markets and festivals, at the Abuls cider cellar, and online at the e-shop bode.abuls.lv.

The workshop offers a look at lanterns, candelabras, hinges, fireplace tools, stair railings and gates that have been manufactured there, as well as several exhibits from the 18^th century. You can produce your own nail, and the blacksmith will also “test” young couples. He also accepts orders for products.

This market sells produces from local farmers and home manufacturers who offer traditional and seasonal food which they grow and prepare themselves. You can purchase vegetables, fruit, fresh and smoked meat, cheese, bread, country tortes, homemade wine and various household and gardening objects.

Bread at Donas is baked according to ancient traditions. The dough is scalded in a trough, kneaded by hand and then lovingly shaped into loaves that are baked in a real wood stove on maple leaves. You can prepare your own loaf and take it home with you. Nothing is tastier than a warm slice of bread with milk and honey. You will also enjoy other Latvian country treats such as dried meat patties and sausages made of grits. There are also 17 different types of cheeses.

Latvian cuisine: Grit porridge, sauerkraut, country steak haché, 21 kinds of cheeses, milk, honey, herbal teas, country bread.

Special foods: Donas sourdough bread.

Die Pflanzenbau – und Bienenzuchtwirtschaft befindet sich am Ufer des Flusses Amata. In der Wirtschaft werden Nektarpflanzen wie Fazelien, Weißer und Gelber Honigklee angebaut und 150 Bienenvölker gepflegt. Verkostung und Erwerb der Produktion, Bestellungen, Beratung, Organisation von Seminaren. Der einzigartige Buchweizen-Kleehonig, Anfertigung von Wachskerzen- und Figuren.