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Tag: cellar

  • Romania’s wine story

    Romania’s wine story

    The itineraries and the tours taken around Romania’s wine cellars are focused on one single eventual aim: getting acquainted with the regions dedicated to the production of wine and to wine tasting. Tourists can take part in wine-tasting sessions, can make guided tours in wine cellars and vineyards. Not the least, they can make the most of of their extraordinary culinary experiences. Any time of the year has its charm yet the most sought-after timeframe is between May and October, when the temperature outside allows tourists to enjoy having experiences other than the wine-related ones.

    Alexandra Gălbează is the founder of Romania’s Enotourism Association. There has been a growing trend in recent years as regards this form of tourism. Moreover, the offer has become more diversified. Or at least that’s what Alexandra Galbeaza told us.

    “Of course that, strictly speaking, enotourism means visiting a wine cellar, yet in recent years, especially after the pandemic, the vine growing tourism also has other connotations. It does not only mean visiting a wine cellar but also the opportunity to enjoy a different experience, apart from the wine-tasting proper. We’re speaking about staging musical live concerts in a vineyard, picnics, also in the vineyard, musical evenings, plays, concerts, theme parties with camp fires that carry on late into the night, especially if we speak about the wine cellars that also have accommodation capacity. So tourists can stay the night at the wine cellar, having visited it. “

    Accompanied by the founder of Romania’s Enotouriosm Association, Alexandra Gălbează, we start our journey from the Dealu Mare vineyard, which lies very close to Bucharest.

    “We began with this region become it is very close to Bucharest where we have very many people. Those who want to escape the capital city have the opportunity to go, at a stone’ s throw away, to a place where they can enjoy a enotourism experience. It also is, arguably, the region with the greatest number of wine cellars. It is a dense area, with the wine cellars lying quite close to one another. So the enotourism activities can also be diverse and many. It is also at this point that we can speak about the recently-built wine cellars, but also about wine cellars with a rich history. We’re speaking about the wine cellar known for the production of the sparkling wine but also for being the purveyor of the Royal house. Also, here we have accommodation facilities. We can start off with a tour of the cellar, with a wine-tasting session and it is also in this region that we can speak about another wine cellar as well, whose history is also rich, which used to be a royal property and which is now owned by Prince Nicolae of Romania and his wife. This wine cellar has developed very many enotourism packages. We have accommodation, theme parties with wine and food pairing can be staged, there also is the personalized partying that can offer a personalized experience. These are initiatives the wine cellars took the liberty to have, yet there are also initiatives that started from the region’s wine cellars uniting their forces. “

    We continue our journey and we’re heading to eastern Romania, in Moldavia, and here our stopover is the Vrancea region. Here we can find a wine cellar with a long-standing tradition in wine production, whose premises have nonetheless been modernized in recent years, and which are placed in a dreamlike landscape. This wine cellar offers accommodation as well, while those who wish to spend more time here can benefit from multiple experiences.

    ” Apart from the fact that they can enjoy the tasting and the local wines, they can stay there for a couple of days, they can cycle all the way to the vineyard, sports aficionados can even stay over night for a game of tennis, if the weather is friendly, we also have a swimming pool. Then travelling further to Moldavia, in the Iasi region we can find a wine cellar with a rich history. It is the cellar where wines are made of indigenous sorts alone: Frâncușă, Grasă de Cotnari. So enotourism cannot be limited to the wine-tasting proper. I am not the only one to say it, also saying it are the European initiatives starting the Wine Road, Iter Vitis, the cultural road of the wine. That means we blend the wine into the cultural story of the place. In Moldavia, we speak about the local wines, however, the Cucuteni civilization can be found close by. Tourists can visit, can find out the story of the place, of the Cucuteni civilization, which is known to be Europe’s oldest civilization. “

    The schedule of a visit to the wine cellars needs to be made well in advance. It is a kind of tourism that can be made all year round. For instance, if we want to enjoy the landscape, the vineyard, the best period would be autumn or spring, where we can enjoy the scent, the fragrance, the green landscape. Also, we can go there in the cold season, yet the tour of the wine cellar will be limited to the interior experience. With more on that, here is the founder of Romania’s Enotourism Association, Alexandra Galbeaza.

    “Those who want to go the wine cellar and enjoy the experience need to make a call and schedule a visit in advance so they can make sure that at the wine cellar, there is someone who can welcome them. Also, having reached the wine cellar, the story begins with the tour of the cellar, with the story of the place. Specific info is being offered on how the wines were obtained, on the way the wine is produced, starting from the vineyard and all the way to the end product. A point the visit also covers is the bottling area so that visitors can see how wine is bottled, and, not the least, there also is the eagerly-awaited visit to the barrels area, while the tasting oftentimes also takes place in the barrels area or the hall especially dedicated to tasting. That depends on each wine cellar yet it also very much depends on the experience the tourist wants to have “.

    The founder of Romania’s Enotourism Association, Alexandra Gălbează, has organized the Enotourism Forum. Here she is once again, this time breaking the news about other interesting projects.

    “The next event, it will be in the spring of 2025, most likely. It is an event exclusively dedicated to this particular sort of tourism where we seek to invite representatives of the wine cellars tourism agencies, but also tourist guides, in a bid to think together of what actually happens and what it is required so that this segment can develop in Romania. Also, we intend o create a wine route at national level, accessible, of course, according to the country’s major regions, so that in the future we can integrate this route into the European cultural route. “

    A great many tourists are in pursuit of authenticity, of the peaceful life and are happy to discover that, in Romania, there are still traditions and local cuisine. They are delighted with the Romanian wines, especially with the indigenous sorts, all that and the high-standard accommodation offer turn the visit to the wine cellars into an unforgettable experience.

  • Wine-growing tourism in Romania

    Wine-growing tourism in Romania

    Romania has a very generous offer of vast vineyards
    and beautiful wine cellars, fascinating stories of genuine treasures that await the wine
    lovers. Moreover, these wine cellars can be visited as part of several special
    programs which include walks around the vineyards, detailed info on the
    wine-making process and, more important than all that, wine tasting sessions.


    This week’s edition of Traveler’s Guide
    spins the yarn of a different experience, that of the legends told till late at
    night, in a picturesque setting.


    Alina Iancu is the founder of Romania’s Wine
    Cellars project. Alina is also a promoter of the local wines and of the
    wine-growing tourism. Alina told us the number accommodation units at the wine cellars
    but also in the surrounding areas has been on the rise, as of late.


    From this
    particular viewpoint, as against the last two, maybe three years, we fare much
    better. We have only one association, which is active, the Dealu Mare Wine
    Cellars Association. There are around 15 wine cellars in the association and several
    times a year they organize the Open Gates Day. Which means that a couple of wine
    cellars can be visited the same day with no previous appointment. There are a great
    many wine cellars, from the Dealu Mare vineyard, Dragasani or even from Transylvania, that began to stage festive events, be they live
    concerts at the wine cellar, or the Wine Cellar Day, celebrated at a certain
    moment in time, or the Grape Harvest Day. And then, when you know there are several
    wine cellars in a region, you’re aware you need to be able to plan your weekend.
    To this wine cellar you go for the grape harvest, while to that one, you go to
    enjoy the vineyard. There are a couple of vineyards that have started to associate
    with other local producers, be they cheesemakers or producers of meat specialties.
    And then, apart from a wine-growing experience, you can also have a culinary
    experience. To that end, we’ve got much more work to do, yet the local
    producers in certain areas have begun to put their produce together and present
    them to the people visiting their households.


    While visiting a wine cellar, tourists are
    initiated in the art and technique of wine tasting and can also listen to its tale.
    When their visit is about to end, the guests of the wine cellar can have a
    stopover at the souvenir shop, available to them with souvenirs in a liquid
    state. The initiator of Romania’s Wine Cellars project, Alina Iancu, told us
    wine growing tourism goes perfectly with other forms of tourism.


    Being welcomed at the wine cellar also
    means a brief presentation of the technological process, a sight-seeing tour where
    you are shown the hall where the grapes a reprocessed, the maturation area with
    the barrels, which is the strongest point of attraction, then the wine tasting
    session begins. As a rule, five sorts of wine are tasted, and some of them can
    also go with other produce. A visit to a wine cellar lasts for about one hour
    and a half. However, winegrowing tourism also goes with active tourism. More often
    than not, cycling or running activities are organized. That happens at national
    level as in the long run, you can enjoy the scenery, while in the end, when you
    reach your destination, you can also enjoy a glass of wine. Romania is
    well-known for its white as well as for its red wines, yet that has been gaining
    ground, quality-wise, as in recent years a great many new wine cellars have cropped
    up and in Romania, not only have they improved their quality, but also, the
    wine cellars already put themselves on the market with quality wines. Emphasis
    is laid, by all means, on the local sorts, on the indigenous sports, while
    quality is sensibly improving.


    Apart from the wine
    tasting sessions at the wine cellars, tourists can also enjoy taking part in
    events staged in the big cities across Romania, Alina Iancu also said. For example,
    the second edition of the Revino Gourmet Salon is held in Bucharest, over October
    21 and 23rd.

    Alina
    Iancu:


    We bring over wine makers, producers of craft beer, but also cheese makers
    and producers of meat specialties. So, you go the whole hog when you have this
    gastronomic experience, you can make the most of it for a couple of days running,
    what with the fact that it is smack bang in the middle of the capital city. Such
    events are staged in the big cities across the country, each year. It is a
    start, in a bid to have wine sorts go with the local produce, while this event is
    not only for the visiting public. Local producers need to met other local
    producers, because that is the only way we can enhance the value of the
    produce, and that of the place. Whenever we introduce a wine sort and point to
    a sort of local cheese that best goes with it, the story is a much more complex
    wine. In the build-up to all that, there are several factors, people and
    places, while the taste is a much stronger one, when more products are being laid
    out, all of them hailing from the same region.


    There are a great many
    tourists who come to the wine cellars. However, quite a few of them travel to Romania
    for business purposes. Such people would like to have a special experience at the
    weekend.


    There
    are very few tourists who come for the wine-growing part alone. However, in such
    vineyards as the ones in Dealul Mare, Drăgășani or even
    in Transylvania, very many foreign tourists dedicate their weekends to such
    visits and it goes without saying they’re impressed with what they see as,
    first of all, they ‘re not aware Romania is a great producer of wines, and secondly,
    they are impressed with the quality of the wine. Besides, wine-growing tourism
    can be done all year round. Any time of the year has its own flavor, yet the
    most sought-after are the months of May all through to October, when nature and
    the temperature readings allow you to enjoy other experiences than the
    wine-tasting one. What we need to know, though, is that early booking in needed
    and usually we take groups of visitors made of at least six people.


    If you access the Crame Romania platform, you can get info on
    the wine cellars, the particular places where they are located, as well as info
    on the indigenous sorts and, in general, on how a wine sort can be tasted. The founder
    of Romania’s Wine Cellars project, Alina Iancu, year after year, invites tourists
    to get acquainted with Romania’s wines and wine cellars.


    It’s been ten years since
    we promote wine-growing tourism. We also need the public to be more and more interested,
    as the experience is unique and the local producers have also accommodation
    places on offer, as well as special dedicated rooms and special personnel, more
    and more dedicated. You should be anxious to know, as soon as you reach Romania,
    according to the area you may find ourselves in, you should be anxious enough to ask whether
    there are wine cellars nearby, since the places you’re about to visit and the
    wines you’re about to taste, all that is well worth the while !


    We have already extended our invitation! Next
    week’s edition takes you to Mures, the Romanian county with the greatest number
    of castles and mansions.

  • The winner of Romania’s Best Vine Grower contest has been announced!

    The winner of Romania’s Best Vine Grower contest has been announced!


    The maiden edition of a contest has been organized in the second week of March. The event is highly likely to create a tradition: Romania’s Best Grapevine Grower contest. It is about a dried grapevine-pruning national competition. The competition was aimed at bringing to the fore a category of specialists which is increasingly hard to find, but whose work is essential if we want to obtain a good wine.


    The Ambassador of the We Open the Romanian Wine Program, the founder of Wines Romania and the co-founder of the RO-Wine international wine festival, Marinela Ardelean, gave us details on the event.



    It’s about an event through which we sought to celebrate, to fete Romania’s vine growers and vine-growing alike. We often speak about wine, about oenology, but we speak less of those without whom we would not be able to enjoy the good wines Romania has on offer, namely the vine growers. It is precisely at this point that the idea occurred, the need, on one hand, to put to good use a world which is less well-known, while, on the other hand, each action is very important, contributing to the improvement in quality, for wine and the wine-growing industry. Therefore, highlighting the presence of these professionals, that implicitly means laying emphasis on an extremely important area when it comes to quality, namely the grapevine and how it is processed or worked on, given that the most important thing as regards the set of operations in the vineyard is particularly this trimming of the grapevine, performed early into the new year.



    Here is Marinela Ardelean once again, continuing her story:



    At this maiden edition, we brought together vine-growers from all regions of Romania. It was a contest where those vine growers could participate, who are experienced or who work in a wine cellar whose vineyard is registered with Romania’s National Registry of Vineyard Plantations. Therefore, eighteen professionals were assessed by an international judging panel, whose members came from Spain, Italia and Romania. Vine growers had twenty minutes to prune ten grapevine vine-stocks, according to the instructions given by the members of the judging panel.



    Marinela Ardelean once again, this time telling us there were 10,000 Euros in prize money.



    We also had winners. The grand prize or the first place remained in Buzau, there were the contest was held, at the Pietroasa wine cellar, while the second place went to Dobrogea, while the third place went to Banat. So here we have three regions that were put to good use. The first place was won by Dănuț Ploscaru, Constantin Udrea of Dobrogea was second-placed, while Paul Micu Huiet came in third, he was a professional from Banat. The joy was really great, first of all for those who won, but also for the competitors, as it was an extraordinary opportunity for them to get to know one another, to socialize, to discover each other, it was an opportunity through which the presence of professionals from the region was highlighted, but also an opportunity for region itself, Pietroasa. In Pietroasa, almost 200 people turned up, from students to professionals, to suppliers of equipment, of stuff needed by winemakers, wine cellar owners, who participated. It was an event whose scope was way above our expectations. Cross my heart!



    Since the maiden edition came out as the beginning of a tradition, the organizers have the forthcoming editions in view already.



    Marinela Ardelean once again.



    For the next tear, we have opted for keeping our host, they were wonderful. Initially, we thought of travelling and being present each year in a different university, since the Pietroasa Wine cellar belongs to the University of Bucharest. In the beginning, we thought of going to each of the four cities where USAMV Bucharest university is present, yet we thought of staying in Pietroasa, first of all because it is close enough to Bucharest and because its vine-growing plantation is generous enough to host a contest of such a scope.



    An opportunity specialists in the field should not miss, just as Marinela Ardelean told us:



    For the future, we shall invite those who are into vine growing, the agronomists should stay on their toes, and we shall grow together. If 38 competitors registered for a maximum number of 40 places which we made available this year, for the next year we have set for ourselves the task of developing and I invite each of those who activate in the field and are vine growers or those who tend to the vineyards of wine cellars across Romania to nerve themselves to participate, just as their colleagues did, since it is an extraordinary opportunity for professional development, but also an opportunity to get to know colleagues from other regions.



    The organizer of the event, Wines of Romania, is a hundred per cent private project. It seeks to provide a sustainable development of Romanian wine’s local and international success, at once being an active supporter of the vine-growing sector, constantly promoting it worldwide.



    As for Marinela Ardelean, she is central character in the world of wine, in Romania, but also worldwide. The mission she has assumed is that of taking the Romanian wine far and wide around the world. An author of five books, an ambassador of the We Open the Romanian Wine program, the founder of Wines of Romania and co-founder of the RO-wine international wine festivals, Marinela Ardelean compelled international recognition through the activity she carried with the world’s most important competitions, but also thanks to the events through which she made Romania wine known to the most influential critics and wine connoisseurs.(EN)