THE WINE ROADS OF ROMANIA

Romania has one of Europe’s oldest and, at the same time, least discovered wine stories. From the sun-drenched hills of the south to the cooler vineyards of Transylvania and the historic wine regions of western Romania, wine here speaks of climate, soil, history and people.

This journey is not designed as a simple succession of wine tastings. It is an exploration of Romania through its vineyards, its indigenous grape varieties, its regional cuisine and the people who are shaping the country’s contemporary wine culture.

We will walk through vineyards, step inside cellars, discover local grape varieties rarely encountered outside Romania and meet the people who preserve, reinterpret and reinvent the winemaking traditions of each region. Along the way, we will see how wine changes with the landscape, climate and soil, and how local cuisine completes the story in the glass.

Fetească Neagră, Crâmpoșie Selecționată, Negru de Drăgășani, Novac, Mustoasă de Măderat, Cadarcă, Fetească Regală and Tămâioasă Românească become the landmarks of a journey across the country, from south to west.

By the end, the question will no longer simply be, “What does Romanian wine taste like?”

It will be:

What does Romania taste like?

Day 1 – Bucharest | The First Glass

Our journey begins in Bucharest. After arrival and a private transfer to the hotel, there is time to settle in before our first encounter with the world of Romanian wine.

In the evening, we gather for a welcome dinner and a guided introduction to some of Romania’s most representative grape varieties. Rather than beginning with producers, we begin with the grapes themselves.

Fetească Neagră, Fetească Regală, Fetească Albă and Tămâioasă Românească provide our first glimpse into the diversity and character of Romanian wine.

This is our introduction to a wine culture with its own vocabulary and identity. Over the days ahead, we will encounter these varieties in the landscapes where they grow and discover just how much terroir, climate and winemaking philosophy can influence what eventually reaches the glass.

Overnight: Bucharest

Meals included: Welcome dinner and introductory Romanian wine tasting

Day 2 – Bucharest – Dealu Mare | Romania’s Great Wine Hills

Leaving Bucharest behind, the urban landscape gradually gives way to rolling hills covered with vineyards.

We enter Dealu Mare, one of Romania’s emblematic wine regions and an ideal place to begin understanding the remarkable evolution of contemporary Romanian wine.

Our first vineyard experience is dedicated to the land itself. We look at vineyard orientation, soils, climate and the differences between individual plots, discovering why certain grape varieties have adapted particularly well to these hills.

Tasting wine takes on a different meaning when we have first walked through the landscape that created it.

Lunch is paired with carefully selected wines, and in the afternoon we continue exploring the region through another wine experience with a contrasting style and approach.

The purpose is not to fit as many tastings as possible into one day. It is to begin comparing.

The same region can produce surprisingly different wines depending on the vineyard, the vintage and the choices made in the cellar.

In the evening, we remain in the heart of wine country, enjoying the slower rhythm of the vineyards far from the bustle of the city.

Overnight: Dealu Mare wine country

Meals included: Breakfast, wine-paired lunch and dinner

Day 3 – Dealu Mare | Fetească Neagră – One Grape, Many Expressions

Today we stay among the vineyards and dedicate the day to one of Romania’s most important red grape varieties: Fetească Neagră.

We begin with a walk through the vineyard to better understand the relationship between the land and the wine. From there, we continue into the cellar and, whenever possible, compare wines from different vintages or different interpretations of the same grape.

It is here that we begin to understand that Fetească Neagră does not have a single voice.

It can be elegant or powerful, fruit-driven or complex, youthful and vibrant or profound after maturation. Soil, vineyard position, vintage conditions and winemaking decisions can all dramatically influence the final wine.

Lunch is relaxed and inspired by regional cuisine, while the afternoon brings another carefully selected wine experience.

There is also time simply to enjoy being in wine country.

We deliberately avoid turning the day into a tasting marathon. Wine requires time, and sometimes the most interesting part of a tasting begins after the glasses have been poured and the conversation starts to flow.

Dinner explores the relationship between Romanian red wines and local cuisine.

Overnight: Dealu Mare

Meals included: Breakfast, wine tastings, lunch and dinner

Day 4 – Dealu Mare – Drăgășani | Towards the Olt Valley

We travel west, watching the landscape gradually change as we approach the Olt Valley and the vineyards of Drăgășani.

If Dealu Mare introduced us to the world of Fetească Neagră, here we discover another side of Romanian wine: smaller in scale, more intimate and deeply connected to local grape varieties and regional identity.

We arrive in wine country for a late lunch and our first tasting of the region.

This is where we encounter three names that will define this chapter of the journey: Crâmpoșie Selecționată, Novac and Negru de Drăgășani.

These distinctive varieties help us understand why indigenous grapes have become one of the most fascinating elements of Romania’s contemporary wine story.

The evening is spent in the region, surrounded by vineyards and the quiet landscapes of the Olt Valley.

Overnight: Drăgășani wine country

Meals included: Breakfast, wine-paired lunch and dinner

Day 5 – Drăgășani | The People Behind the Wine

Today is built around encounters rather than simply tastings.

Instead of moving quickly from one winery to another, we spend more time in one place, discovering the entire process behind the bottle.

We walk through the vineyard and talk about the growing season, climate, soils and harvest. We then enter the winemaking areas and follow the journey of the grape from vineyard to cellar. Whenever possible, we taste wines at different stages of their development.

Most importantly, we meet the people who make them.

What does Romanian terroir mean? Why is it important to preserve local grape varieties? How has Romanian wine changed over the past few decades? And what might the next generation of Romanian wine look like?

Lunch is served in or near the vineyards, allowing us to remain immersed in the landscape.

The afternoon introduces another perspective on the region and a different approach to winemaking.

In the evening, the pace slows.

One region. A handful of wines. Local food. And a long conversation about everything we have discovered so far.

Overnight: Drăgășani

Meals included: Breakfast, wine tasting, vineyard lunch and dinner

Day 6 – Drăgășani – Sibiu | Wine Meets Transylvania

We leave Oltenia behind and travel north towards Transylvania.

After several days focused intensely on vineyards and winemaking, today has a different rhythm.

We arrive in Sibiu and explore its historic centre, while also discovering the fascinating combination of cultural influences that have shaped Transylvanian cuisine.

Romanian, Saxon, Hungarian and Austrian traditions have coexisted here for centuries, creating a culinary identity that reflects the complex history of the region.

In the evening, we reverse the equation.

Until now, we have often started with the wine and searched for the right dish. Tonight, we begin with the food.

A carefully curated dinner inspired by Transylvanian cuisine is paired with wines from different regions of Romania, allowing us to discover how differently a wine can express itself once it reaches the table.

Overnight: Sibiu

Meals included: Breakfast and wine-pairing dinner

Day 7 – Sibiu & Transylvania | Another Side of Romanian Wine

After the fuller and warmer styles of southern Romania, Transylvania introduces us to a different expression of the country’s wine culture.

The cooler climate changes the balance.

Freshness and acidity become more prominent, while white grape varieties take on a particularly important role. The experience offers an opportunity to compare these wines directly with those tasted during the first part of our journey.

Depending on the season and vineyard conditions, the day may include an excursion into a Transylvanian wine area or a professionally guided regional tasting designed specifically to showcase the character of wines produced in a cooler climate.

In the afternoon, we return to Sibiu.

There is free time to enjoy the old town, explore its cafés and galleries, wander through its streets or simply experience the city at your own pace.

Dinner is independent, offering everyone the opportunity to make their own culinary discoveries.

It is also a welcome pause before our journey continues west.

Overnight: Sibiu

Meals included: Breakfast, wine tasting and lunch

Day 8 – Sibiu – Miniș-Măderat | The Forgotten Wine Road of the West

Today we cross Transylvania and travel towards western Romania.

As we move west, not only the landscape changes, but also the architecture, history and cultural influences surrounding us. We are approaching a part of Romania where local traditions meet the heritage of Central Europe.

Our destination is the historic wine region of Miniș-Măderat, an area with a long tradition of viticulture.

Here, new grape varieties and new stories enter our journey.

Cadarcă and Mustoasă de Măderat become our new points of reference, alongside varieties from the Fetească family and international grapes that have adapted to the region.

Our vineyard visit and tasting provide an introduction to the distinctive character of western Romanian wine, while dinner keeps us immersed in the atmosphere and flavours of the region.

Overnight: Miniș / Arad wine country

Meals included: Breakfast, wine tasting and dinner

Day 9 – Miniș-Măderat | Cadarcă, Mustoasă & the Old Vineyards

We spend the entire day in wine country.

The morning begins in the vineyard.

Why were vines planted here? How do soils and exposure change from one parcel to another? What happened to the historic vineyards of the region, and which local grape varieties managed to survive?

It is a day when the past and present of Romanian viticulture come together.

We taste Cadarcă, when available, and discover the freshness and distinctive character of Mustoasă de Măderat.

Lunch brings the wines together with regional cuisine, completing our understanding of the place through both glass and plate.

In the afternoon, we discover another interpretation of the region through a different winemaking philosophy and style.

This is our final major day dedicated entirely to the vineyards.

After more than a week of travelling through Romanian wine country, the way we taste has changed.

We are no longer considering every wine in isolation. We are comparing regions, climates, soils and styles. A single glass may now remind us of a landscape we walked through several days earlier.

Overnight: Miniș / Arad region

Meals included: Breakfast, wine tastings, wine-paired lunch and dinner

Day 10 – Miniș – Arad – Oradea | Wine, History & the Elegance of the West

We leave the vineyards behind and continue our exploration of western Romania.

A stop in Arad introduces us to a city historically connected to the wider Central European world before we continue towards Oradea.

After days spent among vineyards and rural landscapes, the final chapter of our journey brings us back into a spectacular urban setting.

Art Nouveau and Secession architecture, elegant palaces, cafés and a rich multicultural heritage give Oradea a distinctive atmosphere and provide a striking contrast to the wine landscapes of the previous days.

In the evening, we gather for our farewell dinner.

This time, the wines are served blind.

It is not a competition, and there are no answers that must be guessed correctly. Instead, it is a game of memory.

Can we recognize a grape variety? Can we identify the character of a region? Does a wine remind us of the warm hills of the south, the freshness of Transylvania or the historic vineyards of western Romania?

After ten days, we are no longer simply tasting wine.

We are tasting the journey.

Overnight: Oradea

Meals included: Breakfast and farewell dinner with blind wine tasting

Day 11 – Oradea | The Last Glass

After breakfast, the journey concludes with a transfer for onward travel.

Over eleven days, we have crossed Romania by following its vineyards.

We began among the hills and red wines of Dealu Mare, discovered the indigenous varieties of Drăgășani, travelled into the fresher wine landscapes of Transylvania and finished among the historic vineyards of western Romania.

We encountered familiar grapes as well as varieties whose names we may never have heard before beginning this journey.

But perhaps the most important discovery is not a grape, a label or even a bottle.

It is the places and the people behind them.

Because wine is ultimately a conversation between people and land, between climate and time, between tradition and the present.

And sometimes, to truly understand the wine of a country, you have to travel through it.

The Wine Roads of Romania is not simply about tasting Romanian wine.

It is about discovering Romania through the glass.

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