Fetească Neagră

Fetească Neagră is Romania's most important indigenous red grape, and its name — black maiden — belongs to a small family of Fetească varieties that also includes the white Fetească Albă and Fetească Regală. It is an old variety, probably originating in Moldavia in the country's east, and it was close to extinction in the mid-twentieth century before a deliberate programme of replanting brought it back.

The wine is deeply coloured and full-bodied, with black plum, dried prune, blackcurrant and a characteristic note of dried fruit and sweet spice. Tannins are ripe and rounded rather than firm, and acidity is moderate. There is often a faintly smoky, earthy quality underneath, and in riper examples a jammy richness that benefits from careful picking.

It responds well to oak, which is how most serious examples are made, and it can age for a decade or more. The main growing areas are Dealu Mare in the south, on the Carpathian foothills, and Minis in the west, though it is planted across Romania and in neighbouring Moldova.

Romania has a very large vineyard area — among the biggest in Europe — but for decades produced overwhelmingly for the domestic and Soviet markets, with quality a secondary concern. The rebuilding of the industry since the 1990s has put Fetească Neagră at the centre of the country's argument for being taken seriously, on the reasonable grounds that nobody needs another source of Merlot.

Export volumes remain modest and the grape is still rarely seen in Western Europe or North America.