Wine estate
The Stirbey Wine Estate today consists of vineyards of the same dimensions as before the nationalisation in 1949:
- 30 ha (74 acres) of land, of which 20 ha (50 acres) are vineyards, on the ridge of the hills west of Olt Valley, at 260 - 340 meters altitude, 1/3 southerly exposure, 1/3 westerly exposure and 1/3 northeasterly exposure, with deep, loam-clay and sandy soil.
- 1 wine cellar building built in the 1920’s, sufficiently dimensioned (even by today’s standards) for processing the grapes from 20 ha (50 acres) of vineyards annually, that is, about 900 hectoliters of wine.
- 1 residential building, with apartments for workers, offices and premises suitable for a wine tasting room.
Subsequent to the successful restitution, 8 ha of vineyards were cleared and an area of 4 ha newly planted with Cabernet Sauvignon and two native red wine grapes, Novac and Negru de Dragasani. In spring 2003, 2 ha were planted with Sauvignon Blanc, 2 ha with Merlot, with a density of 5000 vines per hectar. The remaining vineyards are planted with old vines (about 20-25 years old) of native white wine grapes, Cramposie Selectionata, Feteasca Regala and Tamaioasa Romaneasca. In coming years, the substition of white wine grapes by native red grapes is planned.
The Vineyards (“Via”) and grapes are distributed as follows:
| Via Stirbey | 4 ha (5 acres), facing southwest to west, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, in 4th year |
| Via Bibescu | 4 ha (5 acres), facing northeast to south, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Novac, Negru de Dragasani, in 5th year |
| Via Bengescu | 5 ha (12 acres), facing east, Cramposie Selectionata, 21 years old |
| Via Tiberie /south | 4 ha (5 acres), facing south to southwest, Tamaioasa Romaneasca (24 years old), Cabernet Sauvignon, Novac, Negru de Dragasani, (new planting is foreseen) |
| Via Tiberie / north | 4 ha (5 acres), facing north to northeast, Feteasca Regala, Cramposie Selectionata, 24 years old |
Emphasis is placed on autochthonous, indigenous grape varieties from the Dragasani region. The plant density of the young plantation is 5000 vines per hectar, in the old vineyards, about 3500 vines per hectar. Through nature-oriented vineyard maintenance and strict limitation of quantity for each vine, the highest quality of the grapes is assured.
The wine cellars were thoroughly renovated in 2003, equipped with modern technical machinery - destemmer, press, filter, stainless steel tanks and wooden casks all the way to modern filling facilities.
The stainless steel tanks of between 500 and 7000 liter capacity fulfil the highest modern technical criteria in selectively processing individual grape varieties. In utilizing wood casks (barriques) from France and Romania, great attention is paid to preserving aromas typical to each individual sort; the barrique tones are intended to supply merely a background aroma.
