JELNA Winery - the "New Tuscany" of Transylvania

After a well-deserved 4-day vacation spent in the wonderful Bistrita town of Colibița, on the way back to Bucharest, we stopped on a sunny day in June 2023 at Jelna Winery, rightly called the “New Tuscany” of Transylvania.

Established in 2016, the Jelna Winery is part of Lechința Vineyard and is one of the small but soulful wineries that is quickly reviving the spirit of Transylvanian wine.

The Jelna Winery is a family-run artisanal winery in a region with a long and important tradition in the winemaking field. Thus, the first records of the vineyards on the Jelna hills are recorded in the very first mapping of Transylvania, in the Josephine map made by the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1766.

Located just 10 km from Bistrița-Năsăud, in a special natural setting, Jelna Winery today benefits from the investment, ambition and skill of a young family of entrepreneurs (Ovidiu and Daniel Moldovan) from Bistrița Năsăud, fascinated by wine and wine culture.

The investment made in the winery had the great chance to be completed by the discovery of a talented young oenologist (Darius Pripon), who never stops experimenting, but is attentive to what the terroir and the conditions of the year dictate.

We arrived in Jelna at lunchtime (the wine tasting was scheduled for 2:30 p.m.) and the terrace of the winery's chic hotel urged us to sit down and order... we were served a delicious grilled sea bream, to which a glass of Sauvignon Blanc-The Imprint of Transilvaniei wine went perfectly...

After the meal, we took a short walk, discovering the beauty of the place and the tastefully designed arrangements by the owners (the lake and the garden) and of course the winery with its state-of-the-art technological flow, which maximizes the potential of the harvested grapes.

At 2:30 PM sharp, we were in the restaurant for the wine tasting. Here we had an instructive and interesting surprise!...

We were invited to join a group of American tourists, who had set off in the footsteps of the much-publicized Dracula, thus discovering the wonderful land of Transylvania…and since wine is at home here, here we are at a wine tasting with a Romanian-American presence!

As host was the sommelier Vlad Cobuz, who is part of the young team of the Jelna Winery. In impeccable English, he presented the history and specificity of the region, the place of the Jelna winery in the wine landscape of Transylvania.

The 5 wines served, perfectly chilled, particularly impressed the overseas audience. Every time a variety of wine was served, the American tourists tried to compare it with an American variety from their famous region-Napa Valley.

The following wine varieties were tasted: Muscat Ottonel and Fetească Regală (blended), Fetească Regală, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir Rose and Red Pinot Noir . All wines were part of the Imprint of Transilvaniei range.

If I had to choose one of the wines above, I would definitely stop at Sauvignon Blanc. This fresh and elegant wine abounds in generous aromas of bell pepper, freshly cut grass, lemon and intense notes of passion fruit. Its acidity complements the voluptuous structure and body.

Returning to our tasting friends, I must remind you that the entire group of American tourists was led by a very picturesque character who (I later found out) is related to Bram Stocker, the author of the novel "Dracula"!

Dacre Stoker - the leader of the group, is originally from South Carolina, United States and is a great-great-grandson of the famous Bram Stoker who wrote the novel "Dracula". Bram Stoker placed part of the action in the Tihuța Pass, in the Bârgău Valley.

Another interesting thing was that between two wines, Dacre Stoker read entire passages from the novel "Dracula" to the audience and identified with the help of a 13th century map, the action of the novel and the possible existence of the bloody count's castle in Transylvania.

The American tourist also emphasized that it is necessary to preserve the legend and identify it with the Dracula Castle in Bistrita-Năsăud but also with the Bran Castle.

These castles can present to foreign tourists a legend that comes to life and for the benefit of all Romanians, who can benefit economically from this novel that has become very well known all over the world.

Wonderful experience!... especially since I lived it with some American citizens who were so interested in this fascinating character-Dracula, about whom they knew more than many Romanians…

Jelna Winery - the “New Tuscany” of Transylvania, is attracting more and more due to its location in the heart of the famous land, a piece of Heaven on Earth.

But its main wealth is the wines made here by these passionate and dedicated people to the culture of wine.

I could continue my story for 7 days and 7 nights… but all I wish for you is that you can reach Jelna. And if your roads do not bring you here, at least through the clean, fresh and sweet kiss of the wines imagine that you are drinking a glass with the enigmatic and mysterious Count Dracula…