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28 TOURISM Business Review | May 2016
COVER STORY 14
Romania’s version of Tuscany invites visitors to discover great local wines Almost one hour north of Bucharest, the Dealu Mare (Great Hill) region features almost 70 wineries and winemakers. At the end of 2019, 12 experienced and renowned wineries from the region came together around the idea of deliberately creating a higher quality standard for their production, to highlight the distinguishing features of this area. By Oana Vasiliu
T
Jardine Hills
Casa Timis
he Dealu Mare viticultural area has 11
French, the author of the article on The Drink
started mutual consultations to identify other
approved Romanian grape variet-
Business platform.
aspects that they could improve throughout
ies, of which five are white: Fetească
To help out both the region and the wine
the region. They plan to collaborate with
alba, Fetească regala, Tamaioasa romaneasca,
brands produced here, some of the winemak-
authorities to establish a new and improved
Grasa de Cotnari, Cramposie selectionata;
ers established the Dealu Mare Association
standard for certain wines in Dealu Mare, similar to a DOCG.
the rest are red or pink varieties:
According to official informa-
Busuioaca de Bohotin, Feteasca neagra, Novac, Negru de Dra-
tion, as of today, the Dealu Mare
gasani, Negru aromat, Babeasca
Association means 1,500 hect-
neagra.
ares, 13 producers, 34 grape varieties, 8.5 million litres of wine,
According to International Organisation of Vine and Wine data
and 14 vineyards: Apogeum,
from 2019, cited by The Drink
Aurelia Visinescu, Budureasca,
Business platform, Romania is
Dagon Clan, Davino, Domeniul
Europe’s sixth- and the world’s
Aristitei, Gramofon Wine, The
13th-largest wine producer,
Iconic Estate, Lacerta Winery,
yielding 4.9 million hectolitres
Licorna Winehouse, Domeniile
in 2019. “The majority of this
Prince Matei, Serve, Tohani Ro-
wine, however, does not leave
mania, and Viile Metamorfosis.
Romania. In 2018, the country exported just 3.5 percent of total
TOURISM IN DEALU MARE
production. To put this in context, Romania
(DMA) and a general framework to promote
Dan Burlacu, commercial director at Viile
makes more wine than New Zealand, Greece,
the highest quality wines, which carry the
Metamorfosis and the executive director of
and Hungary, but exports less than Denmark,
unique characteristics of the terroir.
the DMA, defines wine tourism in Dealu Mare
Austria, Slovakia, and Bulgaria,” notes Phoebe
With this in mind, Dealu Mare winemakers
as being “in progress and in full development,
