Grasa de Cotnari
Grasă de Cotnari is a Romanian white wine that is usually sold as a sweet dessert wine , but occasionally also as a semi- sweet wine . It is made from late harvest, partly raisin and ideally botrytis-infested grapes of the white grape variety Grasă with the addition of musts from other white vines, especially the Fetească Albă .
The region of origin of this most famous Romanian wine, which was also in great demand for a long time in Europe and overseas, is the Cotnari wine-growing region in northeast Romania, near the border with the Republic of Moldova . The wine-growing region has a very long tradition, at least dating back to the Middle Ages, and is best known for its sweet wines. With the general decline in demand for sweet wines after the Second World War and poor cellar management during the communist era of Romania, the Grasă de Cotnari was largely forgotten internationally. Even today, it is only rarely available in supraregional specialist shops, although the qualities on offer have improved significantly in recent years.
A carefully vinified Grasă de Cotnari is a golden yellow dessert wine with 12-14 degrees of alcohol and no more than 200 grams / liter of residual sugar, despite its sweetness with a fine acid structure. Earlier vintages had significantly higher amounts of residual sugar of 300 grams / liter and more. Successful products have a clear apricot bouquet as well as walnut and almond aromas. In its characteristics it is somewhat reminiscent of a Tokaj , whose carrier variety Furmint is similar to Grasă and has long been considered identical with it. It should be drunk chilled, at around 10-12 degrees Celsius.
literature
- Jancis Robinson : The Oxford Wine Lexicon . 2nd Edition. Gräfe & Unzer, Munich, 2003, ISBN 3-7742-0914-6 .