At the beginning of October, on the occasion of the national day of Romanian gastronomy and wine, the 2nd edition of this great festival was held in Alba Iulia, under the auspices of the Ordo Equestris Vini Europae, of which several Consulates, including the Romanian one (organizer of the event), are members of the FICB.
First of all, the participants followed a conference of the University Professor Dan Boboc, president of the ADAR (Association of the approved tasters of Romania) on the Romanian wine, its varieties, its problematic, its market.
The participants then visited the vineyards and cellars of JIDVEI, official partner of the current edition of the festival. It owns more than 2500 hectares of vineyards in the Alba region of Transylvania, where millions of bottles of all kinds (still wines, sparkling wines…) are produced every year.
Impressed by the gigantism and modernity of the visited unit (automated production managed by a team of only 35 people), the guests were then welcomed at the Castle of Cetatea de Balta (property of Jidvei), by Mr. Claudiu Necsulescu, president of the Jidvei Group,
where they were offered a tasting of wines from the estate, mainly whites : local single varietals (Feteasca Alba and Regala) and classics (Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer), as well as blends of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Feteasca Alba and Cabernet-Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and Syrah. The tasting ended with an ice wine and a 2017 “spumant wine”.
The dinner that followed, accompanied by the singer Romulus Cipariu and his cymbalum, was a tribute to Romanian gastronomy.
The next day, the numerous delegates of the OEVE Consulates from Slovenia, the Moldavian Republic, Austria, Hungary, etc. gathered with the Romanian participants to parade in costume,
accompanied by the guard and his band,
on Mihai Viteazul street, the main artery of the fortified city of Alba Iulia.
A moving ceremony conducted by Father Oliviu Botoi was then held in the Union Hall, the same hall where the Union of Transylvania with Romania was proclaimed on December 1, 1918.
Afterwards, the participants were invited to attend an evocation of the fights that once opposed Dacians and Romans.
During the gastronomic and dancing dinner, which was animated by the singers Adina Sima, Andra Oproiu and Luana Toader,
our General Secretary Marc Lesk, on behalf of President Alan Bryden, presented the FICB medal to Sergiu Nedelea, Ambassador of O.E.V.E. Consulate Romania.
He was himself inducted by Consul Marius Farmazon as Knight of Wine and honorary member of the Romanian Consulate.
We congratulate and warmly thank our Romanian friends for this beautiful festival and the friendships it generated, and look forward to the next edition of the Knightly Festival of the Romanian Wine !
AMICITIA PER VINUM !
