4th December, 2018: The 2018 harvesting had already ended when we called back our team once again into the vineyards, later than ever in the history of our Știrbey Winery! This year’s rich harvest and a sunny autumn allowed us to leave some of the Novac grapes on the vines, waiting for them to further ripen.

On 4th December, we picked the grapes from Via Foisor, most of them already being transformed into raisins, with more than 300 g sugar per liter. After pressing, the bright pink must fermented in the tank. The yeasts, over-saturated with so much sugar, stopped converting it into alcohol at a residual level of 160 g/l. We bottled the wine in May 2019, after 5 months of aging on fine yeast.

The color of the pink liqueur made from our Novac dry berry selection inspired us to use a label that displays a more than 100 years old Stirbey wine advertisement: a distinguished gentleman who after having dined enjoys an extra glass of Stirbey wine, of a colour that resembles our liquor from the 2018 harvest.

Thus our sweet wine, with its bouquet of red fruits and the residual sugar well blended in the fresh flavours, would likely fit very well with the situation of the advertisement: after a festive meal, in a moment of relaxation, maybe as companion to a desert or a cigar, or even by itself, bringing back thoughts of beautiful memories …

We invite you to greet this new member of the Știrbey wine family. You can find it in specialized wine shops or here: „Vin Stirbey” Rosé dulce

Ileana și Jakob Kripp