Romania finds its Heroes

The Hero Selection of Romanian wines will be unveiled at next week’s London International Wine Fair.

Designed to present a new image of the country to the UK trade as well as showcase the best of the national and international grape varieties produced in Romania by its revitalised wine industry, nearly 100 wines were submitted for the selection by the eight producers in the Romanian Winegrowers group.

To choose the wines, two blind tastings were conducted in Manchester and Surrey involving a panel of leading industry figures, including the drinks business.

The Co-op’s senior wine buyer, Paul Bastard and Angela Muir MW led the panels in the north and south respectively.

The contenders were gradually whittled down to 15 wines, which will go on display at the Romanian stand during the fair.

Paul Evans, director of Rumpus Communications, told the drinks business: “This was a truly fascinating exercise, to have almost 100 Romanian wines in the same room, being able to blind taste and judge a category in its own right has really helped us understand where we are at.  

“All the judges commented on the major improvements in quality in Romanian wine, the scores were better than expected and we now have a great selection to present.”

Romania will be exhibiting at stands E30 and E40 at the London Wine Fair from 18 to 20 May.

Rupert Millar, 13.05.2010