Food & Drink

Eastern European Wines

Are Eastern European wines good? How can Europe’s poorest nation (Moldova) produce stunning wines? How do you pronounce the grape variety Smerderevaka? (no idea).

Dave Anning

It may be the new kid on the block (sorry!) but Eastern Europe is probably the birth-place of wine. Wine was made in Georgia 8,000 years ago - it’s probably past its best now - but countries like Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovenia and Macedonia all have admirable winemaking histories. Look up ‘Moldova wine tunnels’ next time you’re surfi ng the net - seriously! Communism didn’t do these wineloving nations any favours. Standards fell quickly, and traditional grape varieties were dug up and replaced with international varieties. The collapse of the Soviet Union reversed the situation - Eastern Europe is back! Labour and production costs are low. To start with ‘value’ meant OK house wine, but unhindered by politics, standards have risen sharply, resulting in some terrifi c wines. The labels can be intimidating - if it seems like a foreign language - it probably is! Fortunately most countries include eyebrow-raising English translations from a certain well-known app! Some grape varieties don’t exactly roll off the tongue - Feteasca Regala, Rkatsiteli, Plavac, Malvazija Istarska - you get the idea! And for anyone thinking ‘I’ve heard of Malvasia’, Malvazija Istarka is no relation at all - ha! Wine should be a bit mysterious so why not the label? I fi nd a Cyrillic label exciting (I’ve had a sheltered life). Anyway, I’ve tried a variety in restaurants as well as at work, and I’m a fan - I love the engaging mixture of familiar and exotic. Where should you start? Well, Georgia may be the cradle of wine so let’s start with its most famous grape, Saperavi. As well as being easy to pronounce it produces deep red wines well suited to ageing and has the distinction of being one of the world’s few Teinturier grapes. What? You don’t know what that is? How lucky I’m here. Teinturier means the fl esh, as well as the skin, is red. Surrounding countries also grow Saperavi and the best I’ve tried personally was from Moldova. White lovers may be tempted by orange wine - a style of natural wine where white grapes are left to ferment in contact with their skins like red wine, often in a traditional earthenware ‘Qvevri’ - a giant amphora without handles often sunk into the earth. ‘Proper’ Orange Wine is a bit of a shock. Savoury and powerful, it should accompany food. Many customers buy a bottle. Few buy a second. Luckily ‘westernised’ orange wines are available - Romania’s biggest exporter, Cramele Recas, makes a delicious, light version - like a Pinot Grigio with candied fruit notes. Call in soon to say hello and we can practice saying ‘Gaumarjos’ (‘Cheers’ in Georgian) n