'I visited the little-known vineyard which produces some of the best value, well-made wines on the shelves'

Since his wines are some of the best value, well-made wines on the shelves, I went out to his winery to see the vineyards, the winery and taste the wines. I also caught up with some of the turbulent history of this part of Eastern Europe.

“I really only wanted 100 hectares of vines, but the government wouldn’t sell that to me. It had to be 600 hectares or nothing, so I got together with two other people, and we bought 600 hectares of scruffy, neglected vineyard.

"We couldn’t actually pay for it all, but they let us pay over five years, so that’s how we started Cramele Recas. The name translates as Recas Winery, named after the little nearby town.”

42 years of communist rule ended in December 1989 with a revolution that started in the city of Timisoara – an ancient city close to the western border of Romania.

Although living conditions were bad before the revolution, it took some years for things to improve.

Philip explained: “I arrived in Romania in the 1990s, sent by the company I worked for, that had nothing to do with wine. The country was in a dreadful state, with shortages of food, heating and almost everything.”

Bit by bit, with a series of enterprises that included running a cinema, importing Heineken beer and working for a German wine producer, Philip gradually became involved in the wine industry and that was when he decided to buy a vineyard.

“We also bought a rusty old winery, on this site”, he said as we walked around one of the most modern, shiny, stainless steel-filled sites I have seen in a long while.

“But we have changed quite a bit since we bought it.”

This is when I remembered a visit I had made to this same winery 15 yeas ago. Then the place was littered with signs giving thanks to the European Union for funding various improvements.

There are no such signs now – “the EU want to invest in smaller enterprises now, and we are too big,” said Philip with a wry smile.

We headed off to look at the vineyards, which spread far and wide over the horizon, and paid particular attention to an amphitheatre of vines, curving round on a hillside.

Planted in terraces, it was so immaculate it could have been a top vineyard in Tuscany.

“We planted Merlot and Feteasca Neagra around the top of the hill where it is warmer and then selected other grapes for different points on the slope, so they get exactly the right growing and ripening conditions.

"Now we have expanded to 1,250 hectares of vines around this winery, and we have just bought another winery a short distance away.

"We also work with growers who supply us with grapes on long term contracts. The aim is to give stability to all our suppliers.”

This sounds like an easy climb up the entrepreneurial ladder to success, but it has been a lot of hard work and a battle to set standards that western supermarkets demand.

From the start Philip realised he needed a fresh style of wine to get his wines listed in UK supermarkets, so he appointed an Australian winemaker, Harvey Smithers.

In turn Harvey has trained several other winemakers, all producing wine to high standards.

“One of the main difficulties has been consumers’ perception of Romanian wine. It has no image or fame, so people generally buy on price and only then they realise that it is really good wine.

"Sometimes when I give tastings, I let people taste first and ask them how much they would pay for it.

"Quite often they say they would pay £10 to £15 for a wine, when it actually retails for under £10. This is the message I am trying to get out. Romania can produce good wine at affordable prices. That’s what we do.”

As well as a fine selection of wines made from international grapes such as Pinot Noir, Merlot, Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio, Cramele Recas also focus on local grapes such as Feteasca Alba, Feteasca Neagra and the wonderfully named Negru de Dragasani.

All have individual flavours and style and are well worth exploring.

Here are some of the best:

Blueprint Label Romanian Pinot Noir 2023, Waitrose £7: This is my go-to inexpensive Pinot, to pour alongside a mid-week roast chicken dinner. It has fragrant strawberry fruit and a silky texture.

Found Feteasca Alba 2024, Marks and Spencer £7.50: Philip’s wife Elvira gave me the definitive pronunciation of this grape Fet – asca and it is an ancient grape of the region. With lively peach and jasmine notes, it is a perfect wine for summer sipping.

Incanta Chardonnay 2023, Majestic £8.50 on a mix six deal: A fresh-tasting Chardonnay with citrus, peach and top-notes of tropical fruit rounded out with a gentle, food-friendly finish. Terrific flavour for money.

Sorcova Feteasca Regala 2023, Waitrose £9: Packed full of delicious aromatic honeysuckle notes with peach, crunchy apples and a sprinkle of spice, this is summer in a glass.

Solomonar Reserve Red 2023, Majestic £9.50 on a mix six deal: This wine is a blend of Cabernet, Merlot and local variety Feteasca Neagra, and it tastes well above its price point with positive plum and blackberry fruit and a peppery finish. A wine to pair with red meat.

Solara Orange 2024, Field and Fawcett £12.80: There are still some people who think that ‘Orange’ wine is made from oranges, and the picture of a slice of orange on this label may add to the confusion, but it is definitely made from grapes.

There is a mixed basket of grapes in this. Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and others but the essential point is that they were fermented, some in stainless steel tanks and some in clay amphorae. and left on skins for 3 weeks.

The result is a wine with a lift of apricot, dried apple and orange peel with enough texture to cope with substantial food. Apparently, Japan can’t get enough of this wine, so snap up a bottle while you can.