The Vintruvian Group, known to the Romanian wine market for its wines from the Northern Dobrogea (Caii de la Letea, Epiphanie) and from Dealu Mare (the former Zoresti winery, later Domeniile Prince Matei and recently rebranded as Crama DeMatei) has grown significantly in recent days, acquiring 100% of the the Crama Mennini (DOC Dragasani) and the majority stake in Cramei Histria.
Vintruvian, from Sarica Niculitel, towards South and West
Although it came on the market just seven years ago, Vintruvian Estates quickly became one of the major players on the local wine market. First, by relaunching Sarica Niculitel, both in accessible retail ranges and with outstanding, limited edition wines, such as Pergament, Epiphanie, Trilogie in Alb or Princeps. Then, by taking over the vineyard owned in Zoresti (Dealu Mare) by one of the first producers of premium wines in Romania, Vinarte. And now, by taking over two wineries. Both well-placed in the premium wine segment, Vintruvian is close to owning (if it doesn’t already do so) the most diversified portfolio of premium and superpremium wines in Romania.
Recently, the company went through a fundamental rebranding of its Dealu Mare vineyard, renamed Crama DeMatei, a name that suggests an increased interest in foreign markets – somewhat normal for the current market conditions. But, as far as the Histria Winery is concerned, it seems that things will not change at all.
Histria Winery = Paul Fulea, promises Vintruvian
"Through this transaction, we first wanted to associate with Paul Fulea and offer him the necessary resources to carry forward his vision of niche wines, such as white wines with prolonged maceration, extractive rose wines, orange wines or wines obtained with natural (spontaneous) fermentation. The wines created by Paul Fulea have known success over the years, both on the domestic market through export to sophisticated markets such as the USA, Japan, Belgium, Great Britain, also confirmed by the important scores obtained at major international competitions, such as Decanter.
This transaction will have Paul Fulea benefit from the resources of the Vintruvian group, including technical support from the group, access to technical and financial resources, marketing, sales and others. Paul Fulea will occupy important positions at the Group level, in addition to the position of Executive Director of SC Viticola SA (n.r. the official name of the company that operates the Histria Winery), mainly the management of the vineyards from which some of the grapes will be vinified by Histria Winery”, announced Marius Iliev, CEO of Vintruvian Estates, in a press release.
In addition to the press release, the same Marius Iliev confesses, on social networks, that "we only say this: Crama Histria = Paul Fulea. This is not an actual acquisition, but an association with a talented winemaker, the talent being inherited from father to son".
Located near Cernavoda, the Histria Winery has been attracting the attention of wine lovers for a long time, being known (and recognized) especially for the "wild" wines from the Nikolaos collection. Initially, the vineyard managed here was significantly larger, but the main role was, for a while, to produce grapes for some of the most important wine producers in Romania. However, during the pandemics, the company’s activity was reduced to managing the area that produced the wines under its own label.
Vintruvian, a new engine for Negru de Dragasani
Regarding the acquisition of the vineyard in Colibasi, another press release says that Vintruvian Estates SRL, one of the most important players on the premium wine market in Romania, signed a transaction by which it takes over 100% of the shares of SC Crama Mennini SRL , the producer of several wines with the Controlled Designation of Origin DOC Dragasani. This acquisition strengthens the position of Vintruvian Estates in the premium wine market, after in 2019 the company acquired 100% of the assets of Vinarte from Dealu Mare, including the well-known Prince Matei brand".
The second acquisition of the group, Crama Mennini, had a hesitant debut, but managed to establish itself in recent years as one of the most interesting producers from Dragasani, especially thanks to some remarkable editions of Negru de Dragasani, a local wine grape that saw a huge popularity bust in the past decade. The Moments and Le Reve ranges are undoubtedly among the most inspired expressions of the Dragasani terroir, confirming the words of the founder, Paolo Mennini, who compared his native Tuscany to the hills of Oltenia.
