Romanian revolution
They don't like talking about those days, but life in Romania before the revolution in 1989 was tough. An oppressive regime, food shortages and the collective ownership of everything from housing to farmland allowed absolutely no room for enterprise. All of which makes my recent visit to Romania even more surprising, because private enterprise is definitely thriving now.
It has taken time to work out who owns what. Records from the pre-Communist era have been found and original owners of land and houses traced, although with several intervening generations there are still plenty of family disputes going on.
Many vineyards were owned by the state in "collectives" and produced vast amounts of wine which was sent straight to the Soviet Union. Small strips of land, no bigger than a back garden were allowed to be owned and worked by families, but this was mixed culture subsistence farming – hardly the best place to look for quality.
The last 20 years have seen massive changes, especially since Romania joined the EU in 2007. If you have ever wondered where all your EU money goes then you only have to look at the many signs alongside roads, industrial parks, and in vineyards, showing that investment in Romania's infrastructure and industry is on-going.
Now there has been substantial progress. Land has been grouped together to make reasonable-sized holdings, vineyards have been replanted with the right grapes and wineries are shining with stainless steel. Another revolution, this time economic, is taking place.
My visit started in the capital, Bucharest, also known as Little Paris because of its grand French architecture. Now this city is gradually sorting out its traffic problems and starting to look prosperous.
Two hours' drive north brought me to the southern foothills of the Carpathian mountains which snake across Romania from west to east. This region is known as Dealu Mare, which translates as "big hill" and its warm, protected climate is perfect for grapes. Halewood, a British-owned company, has brought together 300 hectares of vines and is busy replanting them, with the help of Australian-trained viticulturalist Val Resteman.
"The vineyards were in a terrible condition so we had to rip out the old vines and find the right clones to replant," said Val. Now the hillside is full of regimented lines of Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Chardonnay and Viognier.
There is also a substantial amount of Romanian variety Feteasca Neagra, a bramble-flavoured, sturdy red variety, which could, if given the right winemaking, produce a distinctive taste for Romania.
Despite the new look to the vineyards, Val is proud of the native wildlife which has remained in the boundary hedges and along the rows. Romania's vineyards are natural candidates for organic production once they become re-established.
A taste through the wines revealed good flavours. I particularly liked the Fontana Vecchia 2008 (5.49, www.laithwaites. co.uk) for its crisp, clean flavours from local grapes Feteasca Alba and Feteasca Regala and the soft, juicy fruit of Colina Piatra Alba Pinot Noir 2008 (6.79, Laithwaite).
Also good is the Prahova Pinot Noir which should appear on Budgens shelves fairly soon while the Sainsbury Pinot Noir, produced here is rounded and soft if a little oversweet (3.99).
Byzantyum Rosso di Valachia is also good although is not easily available. It would be good to see more wines from this company on UK shelves.
Heading south-west for several hours to Segarcea in the Oltenia region and stretched across 300 hectares of rolling hillside is the Domeniul Coroanei estate. This used to provide wine and income for the Romanian royal family and its winery, built with French help in 1908, was a marvel of technology at the time.
State-run for 50 years, the property was overgrown and derelict when Mihai and Cornelia Anghel bought it in 1990.
They have replanted the vineyards and are now tackling the winery, filling it with up-to-the-minute equipment and they are now preparing to open to tourists – one of the first wineries to do so.
This is clearly a no-expense spared operation.
Mihai is one of the largest grain farmers in Romania and his wife Cornelia gave up her job as a cardiologist to become the winemaker in charge of development. The results are impressive.
With the regular range of grape varieties augmented by experimental plots of Touriga Nacional, Viognier, Marselan and a fabulous aromatic Tmioas Romneasc, the range shows promise at a serious quality level.
So far these wines are not available in the UK, but I shall let you know as soon as they are.
A long drive north over the bumpiest roads I have encountered in a long while took me to Timisoara, a boom-town close to the Hungarian border.
New hi-tech industries have moved in from Europe soaking up the local labour force and providing the city with remarkable prosperity.
Here, at Cramele Recas, Philip Cox, a man from Bristol who headed out to Romania in the early days of freedom, presides over 600 hectares of vineyard and a thriving winery which is bristling with EU-funded signs.
Once again, meticulous planting on iron-rich slopes, even on revived old terraces is producing quality grapes. The winemaker is Australian who splits his time between Oz and Romania but with the computer-run winery accessible by internet, he can monitor the wine even when he is 6,000 miles away.
The quality is good across the board with simple wines like the Frunza
Merlot Ros 2008 (soon appearing at Thresher) scoring well for its lively, gluggable fruit. With Pinot Noirs, Syrahs and Rieslings still looking for stockists, there is clearly a lag between producing good wine and actually managing to sell it, but this company
has a lot to sell, so it should start to appear in shops soon.
If you see the Feteasca Neagra Merlot blend then try it. The Yorkshire Wine Company can get these wines. (www.yorkshirewinecompany.co.uk).
Close to the river Danube, in the south- west, the Italian-owned company Vinarte has gathered 450 hectares of vineyard in three different sites and is gradually improving the style of its wines.
There are parts of Romania which still feel like the early days of the Wild West. Clearly it takes courage, money and commercial knowledge to take on derelict businesses and turn them into viable working wineries, but Romania is definitely capable of producing quality wine. What makes these wines good is their Northern European style, but the fact that they are new on the market means that prices are low.
There is an opportunity to catch these wines and taste them while they are in this important developmental stage. All they need is a few stockists.
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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