Grasă de Cotnari – Romanian grape varieties

Grasă de Cotnari is an ancient white grape variety, sun lover, that’s been lucky to survive until now days. It has become a reference variety among Romanian indigenous grapes.

The tales are saying that the grape was planted in the center of Transylvania for more than 2000 years. It has arrived in Moldavia (eastern Romania) and sowed in a limited area of Cotnari in the medieval period. Stephan the Great – king of Moldavia received from Matei Corvin – king of Hungary some seeds as a gift. The seeds supposed to be Furmint variety but Matei Corvin gave Stefan a low fertile grape variety. This variety was planted by Stefan on the sunny hills of Cotnari area and got fantastic qualities, becoming one of the most appreciated grape in Romania.

The main wine-making style for the Grasă wine is sweet and demi-sweet and using the botrytisation technique. The grapes are harvested late and “treated” with the Botrys cinerea mushroom. The mold generated by the mushroom pinch the grape and raises it, the result is a light alcohol wine, sweet or demi-sweet, with exceptional body, taste and acidity.

We can find tastes like raisins, honey, apricots, well delivered after aging in the bottle.

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