Potential and risks in the Romanian wine industry

• Author: Barbulescu O.
• Pages: 193-202

Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşov

Series V: Economic Sciences • Vol. 10 (59) No. 1 - 2017

Potential and risks in the Romanian wine industry

Oana BĂRBULESCU1

Abstract: The present descriptive paper presents some historical, geographical and

institutional landmarks of the Romanian wine sector. It offers a brief analysis of the

Romanian vineyard production evolution and of the national wine market conjuncture,

taking into account the global context, which allows to outline Romania's place on the world

wine map. Wine promotion on foreign markets must be done emphasizing indigenous

varieties, that is why knowing them is essential. Highlighting the progress made by

Romanian winemakers, the difficulties they face and the opportunities in the market allow us

to draw conclusions which open horizons for extensive research in this industry.

Key-words: winemaker, wine-growing areas, cluster, indigenous varieties

1. Historic landmarks

Romania has one of the oldest wine making traditions in the world, its viticulture

dating back more than 6000 years. Due to the hot dry summers, the location proved

to be successful and the grape vineyards thrived.

According to a legend, Dionysus, the Thracian god of wine, was born in what

is now Romania, and Plato declared its vineyards to be the best in the world. The

ancient Greek historian Herodotus, among others, clearly mentioned that the wine

was made in the area north of the Danube. Its wines became so famous that in the

first century B.C., king Burebista ordered that all the vineyards be destroyed to

discourage possible invaders. Of course, his own people were not so easily deterred

and soon new vineyards flourished. Wine trading was also flourishing, with large

quantities of Greek amphorae discovered around the Carpathians. In the 1st century

A.C., the Romans brought better vine cultivation techniques and new grape

varieties.

Later on, in the 12th century, the Saxons immigrated to Transylvania, bringing

along with them different varieties of Germanic grape vines.

The Middle Ages saw a clear separation between the wine produced in the

peasants' households and the large wine estates of the nobility. The 'peasant' wine

was produced with inferior agricultural techniques, from semi-wild grapes and in

1 Transilvania University of Braşov, oana.barbulescu@unitbv.ro