A new local project could change the standards of Romanian enotourism. In Borgo Caponera Resort will be invested five million euros
The investment, which will amount to the total amount of about 5 million euros, belongs to the Italian businessman Marco Elisha. He has already become the owner of a two-hectare plot of land in the built-up area of the commune, land on which there is a mansion built two centuries ago. Nationalized in the years of communism and transformed into a place that hosted pioneer camps, the mansion urgently needs a professional rehabilitation. The new owner discovered, under several layers of paint covering the walls, frescoes painted with the erection of the mansion. He immediately announced an expert of the profile museum in Timisoara, who could offer consultancy on the restoration of bicentennial works of art.
The project is intended to be an entourism innovation in western Romania. We want to bring the Italian Renaissance from the center of Italy – Tuscany and Umbria – to the hills in the Minis-Maderat area, says the Italian investor, who aims to complete the project in no more than two years.
A wine cellar with historical and cultural landmarks
The wine cellar will be called Eliwine and will bear the multicentennial coat of arms of the Elisha nation, an old Italian family whose family tree includes the poet Dante Aligheri.
The wine cellar was designed in an octagonal form, with an olive tree placed centrally, with subtle architectural references to the buildings made by Brunelleschi, to the Cathedral of Florence and to the Tuscan Renaissance. It is thought of as a work of art that can be visited, completely different from the cellars in the area. It will have, therefore, great chances to become a tourist attraction.
In the cellar we will make wine without using stainless steel containers. We opted for terracotta amphorae, made in Impruneta, a locality near Florence, where Filippo Brunelleschi produced, 600 years ago, the bricks used in the construction of the Santa Maria del Fiore dome, in Florence, explains Marco Elisha.
In a first stage, the winery will buy grapes exclusively from winegrowers in the Minis-Maderat area, holders of the D.O.C. certificate. Also, the winery will promote quality Romanian varieties and wine. It will focus on the production of orange wine at first from Mustoasa de Maderat and Feteasca regala.
About 70% of the wine produced will be destined for its own event hall, gastronomic tastings, team-buildings and restaurant.
Tasting room with premium associations
The tasting room will have an area of about 600 square meters and will be able to receive 300 guests. It will be used for both tastings and events.
We will organize gourmet tastings, different from the classic tastings. Premium wine associations with unique dishes will be offered, we will give up the classic associations with cheese and sausages. For example, Feteasca Neagra aged in cement tanks, with high microoxygenation, will be associated with a serving of wild boar with berries, or, in the case of a vegetarian menu, with ratatouille and salty cake, , explains the Italian investor.
Given the high quality of the service offered, these gourmet tastings will be served on Renaissance platters in Umbria, representing what we call Raffaellesco, details Marco Elisha.
Here it is appropriate to make an aside: the Italian city of Deruta, in Umbria, is known for its production of refined, enameled ceramics, known as majolica. In the fourteenth century, at the beginning of the Renaissance, their artisans were so prolific and talented that the city of Deruta could pay the city’s taxes in ceramics instead of cash! The most prosperous period for Deruta was the sixteenth century, during which a certain design, called Raffaellesco, became extremely popular in ceramics. Raffaellesco is the namesake of one of the great masters of the Renaissance, Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, painter and architect. His frescoes featured a creature that came to be known as the grotesque,, a design that combines human, animal and botanical forms. Closed parenthesis.
Restaurant with big ambitions
The restaurant will be called TATI’ and will be located in the mansion from the eighteenth century, after the building will be completely renovated, keeping the frescoes and characteristics of the noble palaces of the time.
The investments will be made with consultants and managers, for the restaurant to obtain a Michelin star.
To stimulate entourism, the resort will include eight wooden houses, a swimming pool with one side covered and another uncovered, plus a multifunctional sports field.
The first tuscan-inspired underground spa
Inside the resort will be built the first underground spa in the west of the country, designed after a Tuscan model, in a former wine cellar built of stone.
It will be an elegant, premium-type spa. It will be exclusive, only members will have access. Those in the spa will be able to taste premium wines, will have at their disposal a sommelier who will advise them and will offer them personalized tastings. Several waiters will be available to members at any time. We will organize, on request, romantic dinners, promises , Marco Elisha.
Italian businessman Marco Elisha is originally from Assisi, has been in Romania for five years and is not at the first investment in the Arad area. A few years ago he founded a strawberry plantation, later sold to investors in Switzerland.
