Prince Stirbey: Finding History, Passion, & Commitment to Quality Wine From Romanian Varietals

Today’s journey will take me from north Bucharest to Dragasani, one of Romania’s prominent wine regions and home to several of the most regarded producers in the country. I’ve got a three o’clock appointment at Crama Prince Stirbey, a winery focused on making wine from and celebrating indigenous Romanian grape varietals. I’ll meet with Stirbey […]

Bucharest Bound. Out of Gas And Caught In The Rain.

Leaving Dobrogea, the Black Sea, and Danube Delta behind, I cross the new Cernavoda Bridge and head for the highway. Two things are burning a bit of anxiety in me. First, I’m nearly out of gas. My reserve light popped on as I rode to Rasova this morning. My best calculation is I have about […]

Rasova Winery Where The Modern Meets The Classic—Terroir—And Rescue Of Old Varietals

I ride down a dirt road to Crama Rasova—the Rasova Winery. Just beyond the guardhouse, a vast green lawn slopes down to the bluffs of the Danube River and to a modern building. Considering the rural neighborhood, the building at first seems out of place. Yet a closer look reveals it seems to fit into […]

The Romanian Wine Discovery Begins

With black clouds moving east, I pack up my motorcycle and head west. It was just two years ago when I last rode this bike through Romania. That fall, I rode to the Transylvanian capital, Cluj Napoca, from Budapest. Dining in a leafy courtyard on a balmy fall evening as I listened to a nearby […]

Beyond Borders: Bulgaria to Romania and Old Town Constanta

Sipping my cup of instant coffee as I gaze out from my small balcony to the streets of Varna. I’ve been here for four days. Today I must cross the border. My Maps app shows about two hours of riding to get to Constanta on the Black Sea Coast in Romania. I look through the […]