Wine
\nenjoys a long tradition in Romanian space, with viticulture being attested as
\nan activity of the ancient Dacians. The Greek historian Strabo, who lived over
\nthe 1st century BC and 1st century AD, writes that the
\nDacian king Burebista had ordered vineyards to be burned in order to discourage
\nwine consumption. Beyond Strabo’s frivolous remark, historical sources
\nfrequently mentions the presence of wine-making in the area north of the Danube
\nriver.<\/p>\n
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The
\nhistory of wine over 1945-1989 was marked by centralized economic measures
\naffecting the production and trading of wine. Marian Timofti is the president
\nof the Organization of Sommeliers from Romania. He told us more about the
\nguiding principles of wine-making.<\/p>\n
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Wines
\nproduced in Romania back then were meant to cover export-related debt, in the
\nsense that harvests had large volumes. The larger the quantity of grapes, the
\nlower the quality of wine. As the minerals the vine draws from the ground are
\ndivided to a larger or smaller number of grapes, the larger or smaller their
\npresence. Therefore, the body of the wine, its flavor, its scent, the anthocyanins,
\nwhich also affect the pigments, will have a lower presence. But this was the
\npractice back then, as 80-90% of the wine was export-bound. The wine sold would
\ncover large quantities of Romania’s debt. The number one importer was the
\nSoviet Union, which wanted wines with residual sugar – semi-dry or semi-sweet
\nwines, because the cold in the USSR demanded a high energy consumption rate in
\nindividuals. Secondly, the alcohol of wines was not supposed to exceed 12.5%,
\nand we would laugh back then that it didn’t have to compete with the vodka.
\nRomania’s viticulture was doomed by Nicolae Ceau\u0219escu. We’re talking about quality viticulture,
\nbecause heads of farms and vineyards were paid depending on the production per
\nhectare. Whether it was wheat, corn, grapes or other harvests, they were paid
\ndepending on volume. Both the reports and harvests had to be high.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Nevertheless,
\nRomania used to have quality wines that few people had access to. These were
\nexceptional wines that took part in international competitions.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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Romania
\nwas known worldwide as a maker of quality wines in limited edition, made from
\nselected parcels. These were selected from every vineyard before the
\nwine-making process, which we would call the small barrel. The wine itself
\nwas reserved for special social categories. They were sent to international
\ncontests, which Romania won quite often. In terms of imports, Westerners
\nrefrained from importing from Romania, since the wines available were made from
\nlarge volumes, they were not medal-winning wines.<\/p>\n
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One
\nof the fabrications of Romanian oenology back then was the so-called Ceau\u0219escu’s wine. An avid wine lover, the
\ncommunist leader got sick with diabetes in his final years. One vineyard in Hu\u0219i, eastern Romania, came up with a solution to allow the
\ndictator to relish a glass of wine.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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Everyone
\nknew what was Nicolae Ceau\u0219escu’s
\nfavorite wine, zghihara de Hu\u0219i, a grape
\nvarietal that amassed very little residual sugar and a higher acidity rate.
\nHence the wine was ideal as an appetizer, since that acidity stimulated the
\ngastric acid that helped the digestion process. This type of wine made Ceau\u0219escu adopt him, under the council of his doctors, who
\ntold him this wine had a low sugar concentration and wouldn’t
\nhurt his diabetes. Thus hundreds of bottles would be sent to the Central
\nCommittee and it was hence known as Ceau\u0219escu’s wine. Elena Ceau\u0219escu, on the other hand, would also drink Cabernet
\nSauvignion, she particularly enjoyed wines from Dealul Bujorului. The wine had
\nto be semi-dry, with residual sugar that left a sweet taste at the end. Funds
\nwere invested to plant 40 hectares of zghihar\u0103 in Hu\u0219i. The original vineyard had a smaller surface, so the money from the
\nCentral Committee helped popularize this particular varietal and increase its
\nproduction. In every cocktail party Ceau\u0219escu organized, he would serve his
\nwine and, whether they liked it or not, people would smile and always praise
\nits merits because it was the polite thing to do.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
The
\nhistory of Romanian wine after World War II also includes a number of social
\nelements that affected the production of this elixir of life. And its history
\nis bound to extend many years in the future as well. (VP)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A brief overview of official policies on wine-making after WWII<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":780220,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45210],"tags":[33701,116714,31366,116715],"coauthors":[113318],"class_list":["post-621920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rri-encyclopaedia","tag-exports","tag-marian-timofti","tag-nicolae-ceausescu","tag-wine-making"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n