Wildflower, Chardonnay, Wine of Romania, Romania, 2024

Producer Profile

Back in 1988, three families decided to invest in a winery in Romania, starting with 650ha of slightly unloved vineyards and a rusty, formerly state-owned winery.

Today, Englishman Philip Cox and his Romanian wife Elvira divide the production and commercial management between them and together have turned the Cramele Recas Estate into the most successful winery in Romania. Recas are now recognized globally for their impressive scale and breadth of fascinating wines, including natural and orange wines made from organic grapes. Despite the increase in scale, the emphasis remains on making quality wines that over-deliver – a magic formula that has recently seen sales boom. The vineyards are a combination of old vines and more recent plantings, and the winery has seen significant investment in state-of-the-art facilities. Recas are in every way a modern, dynamic winery whose open-minded approach and quality sets them apart… a winery you can’t ignore.

Viticulture

The estate-grown grapes from the Gypsy Hill vineyard were harvested using a combination of 90% machine harvesting and 10% hand harvesting. The fruit was carefully selected in the vineyard to ensure only high‑quality bunches were delivered to the winery.

Winemaking

Upon arrival at the winery, the grapes were destemmed, lightly crushed, and cooled to 5°C before being transferred to stainless‑steel, temperature‑controlled maceration tanks for 24 hours. After maceration, the grapes were gently pressed, and the juice was cold‑settled until completely clear. It was then inoculated with selected yeast and fermented for three weeks at 15°C. Following fermentation, half of the wine spent three months ageing with French oak, undergoing regular lees stirring to build depth and complexity. This portion was finally reblended with the unoaked component before preparation for bottling.

Tasting Note

Amazing fruit and power. Ripe and rich, with lots of mango and a hint of toast vanilla – a benchmark Chardonnay. There's a fragrant and deliciously intense tropical side to this full-bodied white.

Food matching

The wine’s fresh acidity and subtle fruit character complement grilled prawns, seared scallops, or butter‑poached lobster.