reader visit to romania
Eastern promise Romania is making some increasingly impressive wines, particularly from its native varieties. The Wine Merchant took a group of independents there to catch up on progress. Tim Andrews joined them
I
f they know Romanian wine at all, most Brits think of inexpensive,
easy-drinking wine from comfortably
familiar varieties such as Chardonnay,
Pinot Noir and Merlot. The 16 members of Premium Wines of Romania are trying to change that.
Rodica Căpăţînă founded Premium
Wines of Romania in 2015 to bring
together small to medium-sized producers from across the country to develop and
promote quality wine production, at home and abroad. This year they turned their attention to the UK market and, after
debuting at the London Wine Fair in May,
invited a group of independent merchants to Romania to discover their wines.
Yields have been reduced as growers focus on quality
Most produce wines from international
wine, in particular at the higher end, is not
struggle to break into the already-saturated
to British consumers through hand-selling.
varieties which sell well domestically. The visiting merchants suspect that these will British market. Rather, it was the native
varieties, either individually or in blends,
yet well-known in the UK. He believes the indies are key to introducing these wines The three “maidens”
which the group thought had the most
Fetească Albă and Fetească Regală (literally
two indigenous varieties which are the
wines with varying degrees of sweetness
potential.
Fetească Albă and Fetească Neagră,
most planted in Romania, may not yet be
familiar to British consumers. However, as
Julia Jenkins of Flagship Wines in St Albans points out, they “give producers a point of
difference, which make the wines easier to introduce to consumers”.
Silviu Rotarescu from SERVE, a PWR
member, acknowledges that Romanian
the “white maiden” and the “royal maiden”) have traditionally been used to produce for the domestic market. But the group
discovered that they are also producing fresher, drier, yet perfumed wines with
“bags of character” as François Dupont of Stone Vine & Sun in Winchester puts it.
Inspired by the success of these varieties,
plantings of their cousin, Fetească Neagră, are also increasing. The “black maiden”
THE WINE MERCHANT november 2018 44
The visiting merchants Penny Champion Champion Wines, Chislehurst Chris Connolly
Connolly’s, Birmingham François Dupont
Stone Vine & Sun, Winchester Bobby Fishel
Bunch Wine Bar, Liverpool Julia Jenkins
Flagship Wines, St Albans Heather Naismith
Cornelius Beer & Wine, Edinburgh Andrea Viera
Last Drop Wines, London