Romania via Barcelona in the Languedoc 08.13

As I mentioned in our Languedoc update, we had the pleasure of learning about some of the wines being produced in Romania these days.  The short is that we were more than pleasantly surprised by the balance and structure some of these wines had.  I don't know if these are long-term cellar wines but I bet our friend Eric Danch from Blue Danube Wine (http://www.bluedanubewine.com/team/) would tell us that for certain many wines from Central and Eastern Europe will stand the test of time and only get better over the years.

Thanks to Diana (Romanian via Barcelona) and Andreas (Dane via many places Spain) we got to enjoy wines from three producers; Crama "Cellar" Basilescu, LacertA (no fat finger here), and SERVE (The European-Romanian Society for Exquisite Wines).

The majority of the wines we drank came from LacertA (http://www.lacertawinery.ro/en/) which produces a dozen or so different varietals.  This looks to be a state of the art winery funded by investors with deep pockets.  The end products we enjoyed (almost every sip of every bottle) certainly help provide some validation to the investment.  

My personal favorite was the Blaufraenkisch.  This is red varietal commonly associated with Austria but it is found in Eastern Europe, Australia, and as far west as Washington State.  The 2010 we drank was young but it had a good tannic structure, showed dark fruit, a hint of spice, and was well rounded.  I think we kept this open for a couple of days and it held up well.  Also, I believe we had the Pinot Noir (marginal), Cuvee IX, Cabernet, and Pinot Gris as well.

SERVE (http://www.serve.ro/) looks to be a society founded by a Frenchman which targets the production of the best quality wines from Romania.  Cuvee Charlotte is a blend of Merlot and Feteasca Neagra (indigenous Romanian varietal).  

From Crama Basilescu (http://cramabasilescu.ro/) we enjoyed the Golem 2008 which is a blend of Feteasca Neagra, Cabernet Savignon, and Merlot.  This was open over several days and drank very well.  Again, I was struck by the balance and tannin structure on this wine.  It certainly, gave me a sense it could hold up nicely over time.  Plus I loved the label!!!

Though it was many months ago that we had these and other wines from Romania, what has stayed with me over the time has been the quality that we continue to discover around the world.  These and many wines from other regions may never achieve the cache and pricing power of the most famous wines from France, California, and Italy but there is simply no reason to overlook them for variety, eccentricity, and diversity in your cellar or on your dining table.

The empties served as great candle holders too!