VIIȘOARA Winery – Wines between the Danube and the Black Sea

Viișoara… a apparent ordinary village, but with an old secret that can only be deciphered by connoisseurs…

Between the Danube and the sea, the sun and the sea breeze pamper and caress the vineyards like nowhere else. The village between the vineyards is a place where Romanians, Turks, Tatars live together, in peace and good understanding…

In such a place blessed by God, we arrived at the beginning of June 2023, on the occasion of a wine trip scheduled in advance to the wineries in the Colinele Dobrogei wine-growing area - Murfatlar Vineyard.

The name “Murfatlar” derives from the Turkish term “muruvet” which means “good, generous man”. Over time, this term became “Murfat”, then “Murfatlar”, meaning “Murfat’s descendants”.

The first winery visited in this vineyard - VIIȘOARA Winery.

The name Viișoara comes from 1926. Until then, it was called Caceamac, a name that in Turkish has two different translations, according to different dialects.

Thus, caceamac means either "cereal food" or "the beautiful valley", and if you ask the locals, most of them will tell you that the second translation is definitely the best.

The village is located on DN 3, 40 kilometers from Constanța and administratively belongs to the Cobadin commune.

The engineer Gheorghe Albu also arrived in Viișoara in 1979. He married a girl from the village here, learned the story of the place and was enchanted by her.

Viişoara Winery was created by Gheorghe Albu, one of the most important farmers in Romania, out of a passion for the tradition of his native places in terms of grape cultivation.

When we arrived at the winery, we found the owner in the yard feeding his 3 very cute ponies. The multitude of animals that live here together (swans, Vietnamese pigs, horses, ponies, deer and many other birds such as ducks and geese) give the image of a mini zoo, not a winery at all.

Before the winery tour and wine tasting program began, we had a coffee with Mr. Gheoghe Albu.

The kindness of this man dedicated to his profession, as well as the multitude of things we learned about the beginnings of the winery, made us believe that the saying "the man sanctifies the place" was perfectly true in this case.

When he became the owner of the place, Gheorghe Albu decided to replant the vines in Viișoara and to make a winery on these places.

From this idea he started and ended up replanting almost 330 hectares of vineyards.

Gheorghe Albu consulted with renowned specialists in the field, such as Nicu Itu and others. He then contacted a wine nursery in France, Morisson Couderc, an institution with over 130 years of experience in the field. Planting material was ordered almost 4 years in advance, planting material that would exactly match the qualities of the wine varieties.

I received all this information during my visit to the winery.

Later, upon entering the production hall, Alexandru Procovanu—one of the winery’s oenologists—gave us a detailed walkthrough of the process by which grapes from the Caceamac Valley are transformed, under the watchful eyes of the local team, into wines that carry the reputation of Viișoara Winery across the globe.

What was particularly interesting, however, was that the hall was constantly illuminated by a shifting array of colors, accompanied by a backdrop of subtle, carefully selected music.

All of this created a unique atmosphere that—as our hosts assured us—benefits the wine as it develops within the massive stainless steel tanks…

And so we arrived in the barrel room…controlled temperature, exemplary cleanliness, barrels of the most diverse types.

There are 7 types of barrels that differ according to the origin of the oak from which they are made (French oak, European, American, Romanian, etc.). Each has its own way of preparing and preparing the wood.

The way of roasting the oak wood is done by convection with hot air and not with a direct flame. Therefore, it ends up that the same variety of wine, put in 7 different types of barrel, ends up having different qualities and thus satisfying different tastes.

When the clocks struck noon, we entered the tasting room. The multitude of national and international awards obtained over time by the wines of the Viișoara winery "wallpapered" the walls of the room, impressing the audience.

Our group (about 20 wine lovers) was waiting to meet the magical liquor. The one who performed the duties of host was Mr. Gheorghe Albu himself.

Five wines were tasted: White wine Via Maria Fetească Regală dry, White wine Conu’ Albu Chardonnay dry, Rose wine Nostalgia Merlot Rose semi-dry, Red wine Conu’ Albu Fetească Neagră dry and Red wine Cuvée Ioan Merlot & Cabernet Sauvignon dry.

The last wine, Cuvée Ioan, was the one that impressed and pleased the most. A full, velvety wine, with aromas of forest fruits, combined with notes of coffee, chocolate and tobacco. The caress of the wood gives it a long, sweet-spicy finish. The wine won the Gold Medal at the Emozione Dal Mondo Competition in 2018.

It was a wonderful day at the Viișoara winery, our tasting portfolio was enriched with quality wines in which the passion invested by the people here was felt.

Testimony is the words of the one who continues the story of the vines in the Caceamac valley - Gheorghe Albu - "In my youth I talked to the elders of the village. They told me about the vineyard, about wine, about how you have to respect this noble profession to obtain the best result. Gradually, the idea came to me to reward these good people of the place... I decided to replant the vines in Viișoara and to make a Winery on these places..."