Mosia Galicea Mare, Oltenia, Romania
Old Feteasca Neagra vines.
Mosia Galicea Mare, Oltenia, Romania
The story of Mosia Galicea Mare goes back to the early 19th century, when the vineyard was owned by Prince Gheorghe Bibescu and remained in the family until 1903 when brother George Valentin and sister Nadeja split the land they inherited and George took over the vineyard, establishing a new plantation of 15 hectares of vines on the hills of Oltenia.
The winery was built in 1915, following a French brick model. The first year of production was 1916, with George Valentin Bibescu at the helm, growing Fetească Albă, Cabernet Sauvignon, Muscat Ottonel, Alicante Bousquet. Together with his wife Martha Lahovary, the Prince and Princess Bibescu built a reputation for their contributions to automobile and flying clubs, as well as political ties to Europe and the United States.
The winery was bought by Petre Durlănescu in the late 1930’s and he added the striking tower to the premises. Durlănescu went on to create a Bordeaux style wine that became very popular with the local elite. During the Communist era, another 35 hectares were planted with varieties such as Riesling, Fetească Albă, Tâmiaoasă Românească, and Fetească Neagră and the vineyard was administered as a cooperative under state ownership.
The winery fell into disrepair and the vineyards were used only for quantity production until, in 2016, 100 years after the first Galicea Mare wine was produced, Iosefin Florea restored the estate and provided the cellar with the most modern technologies while maintaining traditional wine production technologies, without the addition of yeasts or additives. Now the Galicea Mare vineyard is almost 100% organic. It has a cultivated area of 50 hectares and an annual production of 120,000 liters of wine. The cultivated grape varieties are: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Feteasca Neagră, Pinot Gris and Tămâioasa Românească.
The vineyards have been rehabilitated and the transition was made to a qualitative production, with parcels classified according to the qualities they impart to the grapes. The cellar uses an ultra-modern technological line for grape processing, old tanks were gradually replaced by temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks and 20 Galileo concrete tanks have been recently added.
The completely restored and rejuvenated estate now reflects the historical cultural heritage, protects the old vines and embraces a new era of development created by Iosefin Florea and Monica Petrică.
For more information visit:
galiceamare.com (under construction)