Solara, Rosé, Viile Timisului, 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 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

Handpicked fruit from Dealul Tiganului, Odobesti and Murfatlar vineyards.

Winemaking

The grapes were destemmed and lightly crushed, before being chilled to 8°C for 8 hour maceration. 20 % of the juice in each tank was drained for rose, before being decanted for 24 hours and inoculated with selected yeasts for fermentation in stainless steel temperature controlled tanks for 4 weeks at 12°C. Fermentation was stopped by cooling to 0°C, with a residual sugar of 4.5 g/l to give a rounded finish.

Tasting Note

Lively raspberry and floral aromas, with crisp, festive strawberry, Gala apple and spice flavours that rally toward the zesty finish.

Food Matching

Sushi, Thai red curry tiger prawns, or with summer barbequed swordfish.