Romanian wine

A Fetească neagră from Recaș

Romania is one of the world's largest wine producers and sixth largest among European countries – in 2015 it produced around 4.069 million hectolitres of wine.[1] In recent years, Romania has attracted many European business people and wine buyers, due to the affordable prices of both vineyards and wines compared to other wine producing nations such as France, Germany, and Italy.[2]

Romania's most cultivated grape varieties are white wines, including Fetească Albă, Fetească Regală, Riesling, Aligoté, Sauvignon, Muscat, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Tămâioasă Românească, Grasă de Cotnari, Galbenă de Odobești. Also, the main grape varieties for red wines are Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Băbească Neagră, Fetească Neagră, Pinot Noir, Busuioacă de Bohotin.

History

The winery of Hagianoff mansion in Manasia, Ialomița County, established in 1899

Romania has one of the oldest wine making traditions in the world, its viticulture dating back more than 6,000 years.[3] Due to the hot dry summers, the location proved to be successful and the grape vineyards thrived. Since the medieval period, wine has been the traditional alcoholic beverage of the Romanians.

Later on, during the medieval ages, Saxons emigrated to Romania, bringing along with them different variations of Germanic grape vines. However, by the 19th century, most of these grape vines were replaced by grapes from Western Europe.[4]

In the 1880s, phylloxera (a pale yellow sap-sucking insect that attacks the roots of vines) arrived in Romania from North America. The phylloxera wiped out a majority of Europe's vineyards, including those in Romania. Eventually, many of the Romanian vines were replaced by those imported from France and other foreign nations, such as Merlot, Chardonnay, and Pinot noir.

Romania is a viticultural power among world countries, with an area of over 187,000 hectares planted with vine.[5] In 2009, Romania was the eleventh largest wine producing country in the world.[6]

Wine producing regions

Main wine regions of Romania (map):

Vines

A Grasă de Cotnari from Cotnari

See also

References

  1. ↑ "APEV - Asociatia Producatorilor si Exportatorilor de Vinuri". www.wineromania.com. Retrieved 2015-12-12.
  2. ↑ "Romania puts sparkle into wine trade". BBC News. 2002-08-05. Retrieved 2006-07-19.
  3. ↑ "History of Romanian Wine". JRBA. Retrieved 2011-07-20.
  4. ↑ "Wines of Romania". Chiff. Retrieved 2006-07-19.
  5. ↑ "România, a şasea putere europeană la producţia de vin. Cum poate redeveni ţara noastră un brand pe piaţa vinului". adevarul.ro. Retrieved 2015-12-12.
  6. ↑ "Wine production (tons)". Food and Agriculture Organization. p. 28. Retrieved 2011-02-11.
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