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We ship to Denmark and Sweden

History and Wine Making

Clos du Cotnarian

Clos du Cotnarian is an international award winning vineyard in an area with a very long history in wine production. Clos du Cotnarian is located in Cotnari, a region in northeastern Romania about an hour’s drive from Iasi, near the border with Moldova.

Clos-du-Cotnarian_plowing-with-horse-2
Clos-du-Cotnarian_wine-labeling-machine
Clos-du-Cotnarian vineyard
Clos-du-Cotnarian vineyard

Historic white wines


Clos du Cotnarian was founded by a group of enthusiastic Swedes with high ambitions to revive the historical white wines that the Cotnari region was especially famous for 80-100 years ago.

The area around “Catalina Hills,” where the Clos du Cotnarian vineyard is situated, has a much longer history of wine production than 100 years; it dates back as far as 4000 years, which has been verified through archaeological excavations, lending to theories that the origin of wine making for Europe stems from the Cotnari district. History shows that during the magnificence of the Greek Empire, from about 700 – 300 BC, the Empire purchased their wines from Dacia, known today as Romania.

The history of producing top wines in the Cotnari region extends back to the 16th century, during the rule of Stefan the Great (1457 – 1504). Wine during that period included “The Wine of Voivode,” the ruler’s wine, a 600 year old blend based on the grapes Grasa de Cotnari (30%), Feteasca Alba (30%), Francusa (20%) and Tamaioasa (10%), the very grapes that Clos du Cotnarian grows today. An interesting and little known historical fact is that Stefan the Great was actually a cousin of the mythical Vlad Tepes, also known as Dracula.

Documentation found in a catalog dating back to the beginning of the 16th century in Venice, classifies top wines and lists “Grasa de Cotnari” as being the best and most expensive white wine of its time. In 1711, Peter the Great declared that he had never encountered better wines than those from Cotnari.

In 1875, white wines from Cotnari were documented as rivaling any wine from the Tokaj region in Hungary, and better than those from Germany. In 1889-1890 in Paris, the DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) classified Cotnari for the first time and awarded the region the “Grand Prix” title of Perl de la Moldova.

Since establishing Clos du Cotnarian, the property has been gradually expanded and the vineyards developed according to the latest methods for top quality, boutique vineyards. The soil consists of marbled, reddish, mineral rich sand, clay and sandstone, at sits at an altitude ranging from 200 – 400 meters. The climate is temperate with hot summers, cold winters, good rainfall and a “terroir” in class with the best wine producing regions of France.

A new “cave” was built in 2015, and more recently Clos du Cotnarian has been equipped with state-of-the-art vinification equipment.

We want to reintroduce to wine lovers the magnificent wines that were historically the hallmark of Cotnari and Romanian wine making.
Chateau wines direct award winning wine

At the 2019 Vinalies Internationales in Paris, the world’s largest wine competition, Cuvée Grasa 2017 received the a Silver Medal in the class for white wines, which included entries from about 10,000 vineyards from 40 countries. The white wines from Cotnari have begun their revival!

Wines of Voivode

Today, Clos du Cotnarian is proud to be reintroducing “Wines of Voivode,” following many of the historical traditions of wine making from the region, including plowing with horses, harvesting by hand and producing wines from the region’s historical grapes:

Clos-du-Cotnarian_creating-tasting-notes-pre-bottling

Shipping

We offer flat-rate shipping costs so you can order as much wine as you want without having to pay extra!

Shipping within Denmark is DKK 100 and normally arrives within 1-4 business days.

Shipping to Sweden is SEK 200 and normally takes 4-7 business days.

You can also choose to pick up your order from our warehouse in Fredensborg, DK.

Read more about our shipping process here.

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This site contains information on alcoholic beverages. To purchase and visit this site you must be 16 years or older (20 years or older if you are from Sweden).

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