The surprising short-haul destination that rivals France for wine tourism

In Communist times wine quantity was valued over quality but in recent decades Romania has rediscovered its art. The UK is one of this vineyard’s key markets; it exports 300,000 bottles a year of its pinot noir to Waitrose alone. Lorenna teaches us to also look out for wines from indigenous Romanian grapes; feteasca neagra, tamaioasa Romaneasca and feteasca alba.

It’s tempting to spend all afternoon sunning myself outside the tasting room, a glass of red in hand, in one of the courtyard beanbags. We have a date with the winery’s sister, however, and this one is in the mountains.

By royal appointment

Approaching the foothills of the Carpathians, homes with ornate wrought iron gates make way for wooden chalets with roses and carved bears in their gardens. On roadside stalls, traditional embroidered blouses, sheepskin waistcoats and rugs replace piles of shiny peppers and aubergines.

Our minibus climbs between forested slopes until we reach the Rhein & CIE Azuga 1892 Cellar, a stone’s throw from Azuga ski resort. In 1892, parcels of land were given to local entrepreneurs to stimulate the economy. One became this winery, which has long supplied the Royal House of Romania with traditionally produced sparkling wine. 

We tour the pleasingly spooky wine cellar, which is cobwebbed and blooming with a particular French mould imported either by accident or design a century ago. The winery has a recently renovated hotel so you can extend your tasting session and make a night of it.

Bears sometimes visit the grounds but, although I peek sporadically into the cobbled courtyard, I don’t get lucky with a sighting. Or perhaps I’m too preoccupied with the festive atmosphere in the restaurant, where I’m enjoying hearty Romanian food and dancing to live folk music, which is still very much part of the country’s active heritage as it is in Ireland.

Past and present

The next morning, I take a walk in the mountains for views from above the clouds. The area has the largest brown bear population in Europe, besides lynxes, wolves and wild cats. Conservationists hope to create one of the largest national parks in Europe, making me crave a return visit.

There’s a new chapter in Romania’s drink-making history. The wineries I’ve visited are part of the Alexandrion Group, which has just launched the country’s first single malt whisky. A Scottish master distiller has helped owner Nawaf Salameh create a thoroughly Romanian tipple using water from the Carpathians and the country’s quality barley and local oak barrels. To improve the depth of flavour, Carpathian Single Malt Whisky will age in barrels so fresh from the vineyard that they held wine just hours before.

The distillery and its atmospheric brick-arched cellar should be open for full visitor tastings soon. For now, my wine tour group get to try the first finishes. I immediately favour the pinot noir-aged version, surprised by the difference made to the same whisky by ageing in barrels that have held different grape varieties.

Winery visits are easily woven into wider trips with Bucharest or Brasov as a base. Peles Castle is a popular stop between the capital and the cellars at Azuga. Built for the first King of Romania, Carol I, and completed in 1914, this turreted confection is full of decorative quirks. An armoury bristling with swords leads onto a room with painted scenes from fairy tales, then another hung with Turkish lanterns. Art nouveau touches are everywhere and there are several early paintings by Gustav Klimt.

Back in Bucharest we enjoy excellent restaurant meals and learn how several city streets were modelled on Paris boulevards. We visit another royal home where, in 1947, the King was forced by Communists to abdicate; and Revolution Square, where Communist rule abruptly ended in 1989 when the crowd turned on dictator Nicolae Ceausescu as he made a speech from a balcony.

History goes back further at the charming outdoor Dimitrie Gusti National Village Museum, a site where rural dwellings have been relocated and rebuilt.

We duck into Transylvanian houses with steep, elongated roofs designed to help shed heavy snow, then admire an 18th-century wooden church. It’s one of the rare types Unesco-listed in the Maramures region but, having been struck several times by lightning, was donated to the museum by superstitious villagers. Other buildings are shaggily thatched and semi-submerged, Hobbit-style, a trick that once helped camouflage them from Tatar invaders.

And naturally, creeping up cottage walls in the sun or prettily carved into doors and barrels are the grapevines intrinsically linked to Romanian heritage. 

Book it: Regent includes Rhein & CIE Azuga 1892 Cellar in its five-night Halloween in Transylvania tour exploring Romania’s Dracula connections and visiting Bucharest, Sibiu, Sighisoara and Brasov. From £1,295pp, including flights and some meals; regent-holidays.co.uk. Viator offers day trips to the Rhein-Azuga Cellar from Brasov or Bucharest, which also cover Sinaia Monastery and Peles Castle, from £160.75 for two people; viator.com