“The UK’s behind both the Netherlands and Germany now – in 2016, it was 70% of our exports, but in 2020, it was 10%,” says Cox
Philip Cox, the charismatic commercial director and co-owner of Romania’s largest winery, Cramele Recas, has not lost his Bristolian lilt or dry west country humour after four decades of living in eastern Europe. When asked, last week at a virtual tasting of some new releases, how much of his sales to the UK were on-trade, he quipped “Well nothing at the moment. But before the pandemic, it was about 25% and all over the UK with Mitchells & Butler, Tanners, Corney & Barrow, Alliance and the St. Austell brewery’s wine department servicing pubs and restaurants.”
With the on-trade still “all shut” as Cox puts it, he is focussing his immediate attention on the immediate arrival into off-trade multiples of wines that are certified organic for the first time after the winery received certification last year. The quintet, which included an orange natural wine, showed very well at the tasting, punching well above their weight. More on them later, but first both some background and an update on Cox’s philosophy.
Philip Cox on natural wine, Orange, Brexit and exports
Cramele Recas has been vegan since 2018 and, although Cox was not previously a disciple of organic viticulture, pragmatic considerations were behind his conversion. “We’re making a lot of natural wine now – around 300,000 bottles this year,” he declared, “and we decided to certify them as we got into disputes with people. For example, natural wine is called amphora wine by the Americans, for whom that means organic grapes, no added ingredients whatsoever and no SO2 added.”
Germany has supplanted the UK as Cramele Recas’ biggest export market, and a legal issue in the former country needed resolving. “One of the regional German governments took us to court,” Cox explained, “as they said we hadn’t written ‘certified natural organic’ on the label for our natural wines; so we just certified them to make it simple for everyone. We just want to talk about the wines and whether people like them or not. We’ve increased our range of these wines – the orange ones have been going for about five years – and just launched a conventionally vinified wine, not a natural one. We also have red natural organic wine which is vinified in the natural ethos. We are trying to get our government to legislate so that we can have an official category of what that means.”
The UK still remains a very important market for Cramele Recas, notwithstanding the difficulties imposed by Brexit, one of Cox’s biggest bugbears.
“We’ve been developing the UK market even if the government there has been making things difficult for us,” Cox declared. “The UK’s behind both the Netherlands and Germany now – in 2016, it was 70% of our exports, but in 2020, it was 10%. It’s been the biggest hit by the pandemic. By contrast, Japan and South Korea have been going great guns, having had more success coping with the virus. Since November, my whole life has been ruined by Brexit. Selling wine is much harder with the customs and paperwork et cetera. It’s just horrible. But having said that, I think we’re going to sell much more wine in UK this year than last when we sold 2.5 million bottles.”
Five new wines
That brought us onto the five wines Cox made available in the virtual tasting.
“These wines are an important step for us,” he confessed. “The Rosé and the Feteasca Regala are both on sale in Aldi from April 1 while the other slightly drier Feteasca will be launching on the same day in M&S at £7.50-8.50. Majestic will have the more premium red Solomonar blend at £8.99, while Alliance will be selling the Orange wine at £9-10. I think the new releases will convince people to drink a lot more Feteasca Regala.
“The second one was made together with Sue Daniels, M&S’ wine lady. We decided with Jancis Robinson that ‘royal maiden’ is the right translation for Feteasca because of the grape’s delicacy and elegance. Literally, Feteasca means ‘young girl’ but we didn’t think it was good talking about young girls in her atlas. We thought maiden was cooler.”
High praise indeed from Jancis Robinson’s Instagram feed
The Solomonar blend, named after a Romanian folk legend – a kind of local David Copperfield character as Cox put it – is made up of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Feteasca Negra. The latter is Romania’s best black grape in Cox’s view. “Feteasca Negra has a kind of critical mass behind it,” he said. “There are enough plantings of it, and enough people trying to grow it in a serious way. It can be made in a lot of different ways – it can be full-bodied or quite feminine and light like a Pinot Noir. You can make it with or without oak.”
“We have to push our local varieties, and we’re quite excited about trying to get more premium wines into the English market but it’s very difficult to do it if you’re from Romania. It’s a slow process.”
It may well prove to be slow, but Cox has the patience, the savvy and, above all the quality of wines, to succeed in his quest, both in the on and off-trade.
So how were the new wines tasting?
Dealuri Rosé 2020, 12% abv
Progressive and appealing modern label. An intriguing hotchpotch of eight varietals featuring Feteasca Negra, Babeasca Neagra, Cadarca, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Nero d’Avola, Pinot Noir & Kekfrankos. Salmon pink Provencal-style colour; crisp, dry, refreshing and very quaffable. Strawberry and cranberry aromas on the nose give way to red cherry and raspberry notes on the palate. Great value at £4.99 in Aldi.
Solara Organic Orange Natural Wine 2020, 13% abv
Very imaginative label with half an orange appearing like a setting sun on the horizon behind vineyards. Made up of Muscat, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Grigio, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc, mostly fermented in 900l amphorae. Light marmalade hue, with colour coming from some contact with skins and seeds. Vibrant acidity gives freshness, while vivacious stone fruit makes this exceedingly drinkable. An orange wine to convert even the doubters.
Dealuri Feteasca Regala 2020, 11.5% abv
Vibrant acidity balances 10g/l of residual sugar (as requested by Aldi for its sweet-toothed drinkers). Aromatic and floral with whiffs of cinnamon and white pepper. Quite tropical-like fruit on the palate. Very well-made wine that is again cracking value at £4.99.
Found Feteasca Regala 2020, 11.5% abv
Not dissimilar to the Dealuri, but with less residual sugar (7g/l as requested by M&S) and a little more length. Equally aromatic, with greater florality and more exotic-fruit flavours like quince. Crisp acidity and some structure from skin tannins. Another great value wine.
Solomonar Reserve Red 2019, 14.5% abv
Blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Feteasca Negra. Latter grape provides welcome acidity. Complexity from 25-year old vineyards on the main Recas estate near Timisoara. Aged in 25% new French oak for six months. Dark violet in colour, with plum and blackberry notes. Soft tannins make this very approachable. A very appealing mid-market wine at an excellent price.
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