DOC regions and wine appellations
The climate of Crișana-Maramureș Hills is continental with a temperate oceanic influence, with the western part of the region being cooler and the eastern side warmer. The hills are located in northern Romania, to the west of Suceava County, around Siret River (which flows through the village of Zagon).
The vineyards in Crișana Maramureş Hills are planted on multiple small hillocks at altitudes between 250 and 450 meters (820 and 1,480 ft). The soils here consist mainly of sandstone with marl. Red wine varieties represent roughly 90% of planted vines.
Grapes
Don’t be quick to judge the Crișana Maramureș Hills as a place with no good wines at all, for a region like this is capable of producing some very good quality wines. Try the dry wines made from băltoacănele muscat-cabs (the grape variety that makes sherry) and țarcii (a variety of grape used in Romania), and you will see how they can taste similar to those of Spain. In fact, these grapes are often used by foreign winemakers who come to Romania. On the other side, I would also mention the importance of cherries to the wine production here: most vineyards produce red wine based on chardonnay, but there are many producers who make red wine from cherries alone. I would also like to talk about a group of small grape varieties that are known as vericiului or “little verjuice.” The grapes we use in Romania have been created by French winemakers and maintained by Romanian farmers for centuries. They are usually planted in crates or grafted onto European rootstock. This is because they don’t tolerate extreme weather changes well and get damaged easily when it rains too much or snows heavily, which can happen a lot during our winters here.
Climate and geography
Romania’s Crișana Maramureș Hills wine region gets its name from two historic provinces, Crișana and Maramureș. This area is located in Romania’s north-west corner and borders Hungary as well as Ukraine. Except for a small section in the south-west of the country, Romania sits within a climate zone called temperate continental, which is characterized by warm summers with occasional heatwaves and cold winters with frequent snowfalls. It is here where you will find vineyards growing on hillsides that are cooled by Atlantic winds.
History of Crișana Maramureş Hills
- Romania is a country with a rich wine history, but it’s not one that is well known. Romania is the 13th largest wine producer in the world and one of the most important in Eastern Europe—and yet, according to Romanian Wine Promotion, only 0.2% of imported wine in the U.S. comes from Romania. This was surprising for us to learn, so we’ve decided to take a closer look at some of the best-known regions and help you get to know them better as well!
- Today’s focus will be on Crișana Maramureş Hills: an area located on the eastern part of Romania that has been producing wines in small quantities since Roman times (the name means “Crisia Hills”). The region was once home to many vineyards cultivated by Greek colonists who settled there after being expelled from ancient Thrace by Emperor Trajan around AD 100; they continued cultivating grapes until around 300 AD when Roman forces invaded again after defeating Decebalus’ Dacian kingdom near modern day capital Bucharest (Bucharest still bears Decebalus’ name)!
Discover more about the wines of Romania.
Romania is a country of rich winemaking traditions. Wine production in Romania dates back to the Roman Empire and has continued since then to the present day, making it one of the oldest wine producing regions in the world. Romania is known for its dry red wines, although they also make some high-quality white wines and sweet dessert wines. It’s no surprise that Romania is one of the 6 largest wine producers in Europe and 9 largest wine producer in the world!