INFO
Pandora Winery - a constantly updated "passport" of the winery, useful for consumers and professionals
- Name of the winery: Pandora Winery
- Region: Podgoria Cotesti
- Contact person: Bogdan Mocanu
- Phone: 0742910150
- E-mail: bogdan.mocanu@cramapandora.ro
- Working hours: 8.00 – 17.00
- Company name: SC VITISIM COTESTI SRL
- Year founded: 2004
Owner/Owners: Doru Simiz - Oenologist: Florin Manoli
- Annual production (in litres): 250000
- Direct sale at the winery: YES
- Cellar address: Vrancea, Cotesti Commune, 10 Echitatii Street
- Head office address: Vrancea, Cotesti Commune, Budesti Village, Avantului Street nr. 1
- Website: www.cramapandora.ro
Pandora Winery
Pandora Winery, the new promise amongst Vrancea wineries
For far too long, the Vrancea region was under a shadow, the wine production here being often designed for Romania’s Eastern neighbors, customers with an, at least, questionable inclination towards quality wines, but willing to often compensate in terms of quantity.
In the last 15-20 years, however, the number of small and medium-sized wineries, dedicated to the production of premium wines, has grown timidly, but steadily, and today we can talk about a group of producers that is somewhat representative of this region. Pandora Winery is one of the youngest promises, although it has come to light after almost two decades of experience.
Pandora Winery, a brand extension of another succes
The story of the winery begins in 2004, when the father of the current owner, Ion Simiz, bought from the heirs of the former local nobleman Nicolau, one of the wealthiest noblemen of the area, the property located in the village of Budesti, Cotesti, which included the vineyard, a winery and a mansion. In 2018, the new owner, Doru Simiz, decides to build a new winery, in the vicinity of the old one, and the winery enters a new stage of life.
Initially leaning towards an industrial-scale production of wine – so much is easier to produce and sell, – Doru Simiz met winemaker Florin Manoliu, and the fate of the winery was decided: only quality wines! An argument was already that the Pandora brand, "borrowed" from Doru Simiz’s textile business, was already synonymous with quality production, and the extension of the name to the new wines could only include the company’s already existing values.
Soon, Busuioaca de Bohotin from Pandora Winery!
In order to properly manage the surface, the two decided not to continue the development beyond the existing 45 hectares, a part paid for by the father, Ion Simiz, another 10 hectares purchased in 2019 and currently being replanted with Busuioaca de Bohotin and Sarba.
From the old vineyard, replanted after 2004, today wines are made fromSauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Feteasca neagra, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir si Aligote. In 2024, the vines from the Sarba, Plavie, Tamaioasa romaneasca and Feteasca alba varieties will come into fruition. And by 2025 we can also expect grapes from Busuioaca de Bohotin. In total, the area is divided (quite normal, given the specificity of the area) into 60% white grapes and 40% black grapes, between two plots in the vicinity of the winery (60% of the total area) and a plot less than 10 kilometers away.
For each of the wines produced at Crama Pandora, the picking is done exclusively by hand, and the grapes basically go through three stages of sorting: first in the vineyard, where only well-riped and healthy grapes are picked, then on the manual sorting belt, where six people remove any remnants of leaves, stems or affected grapes, then the grapes also pass through a mechanical selector, rarely found in wineries in Romania, in which the grapes are sorted by size, and only those that correspond exactly to the manufacturer’s wishes are selected for the juice.
Starting in 2023, Pandora Winery opens it's gates for wine tourism!
After more than 7 million euros invested, Pandora Winery renovated and transformed the old cellar (whose trapezoidal shape is also unique in the landscape of wineries in Romania) into a "barrel room". A place where the wine ages patiently in oak barrels, while production was moved to the new winery – spread over 2.5 hectares, equipped with two tasting rooms, a terrace, an amphitheater, a Japanese garden and a cellar.
The good news for wine lovers is that, from 2023, the Pandora Winery will be open to visitors, with the official opening scheduled for June. The tasting rooms will be able to receive up to 50 visitors.
The efforts of the owner and the oenologist to produce top wines have not gone unrewarded, recent medals including the Grand Gold Medal of the Vin la Munte competition this summer, won by Cuvee Pandora 2019, along with the gold medal won by Pandora Secrets – Sauvignon Blanc 2021, wines that can give you an idea of the quality standard of this new promise from Cotesti.
