We are a Canadian-Romanian wine agency dedicated to curating and bringing Premium Wines from Romania to British Columbia. Our personal story began in 2011 when John Webster decided to move to Romania to take on a 3 year challenge before his retirement. He discovered a new, intriguing world and warm, friendly people. Working together got us close and in few months, we became friends.
5 years later, while John was visiting Romania we had dinner at a Bucharest restaurant serving excellent wines. The conversation lingered around the quality of Romanian wines, the growing market and the boutique wineries that are bringing interesting, intriguing wines to consumers. Critical was the fact that these new wines are almost unknown outside Romania's borders.
It might help to provide a little history and perspective on our motivation. Romania is not new at producing wine. It has been producing wine for thousands of years and its wine was described by the Greeks and later the Romans. It also has all the physical attributes to make outstanding wines. Its position in Europe between the 43rd and the 48th parallels makes it ideal for growing wine. Its lands are fertile and well-watered. Romania is the 12th largest producer of wine in the world and 6th in Europe. However, most of its wine is consumed domestically.
Recently we have seen the emergence of a sector of the wine industry which seeks to distinguish itself through the quality of its products and its desire to make Romania once again a region whose wines are celebrated. Some of this focus has come from outside Romania. Foreign investors who have seen the quality of the natural environment have been leaders in establishing small estate wineries focused on the very best methods of cultivation, harvesting and winemaking. For those of you reading this from British Columbia this will seem a familiar story.
Our goal, as an agency is to bring high quality wines from boutique wineries that are focusing on quality rather than quantity. Wineries that produce exceptional, unique wines. So far, we have embarked on this journey with two producers: LaCertA and Liliac.
LaCertA Winery sold its first wine in 2011 and has won accolades for many of its wines. Its winery in an area called Dealu Mare (literally Big Hill) sits in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains surrounded by 82 hectares of vines. Its latitude, aspect and elevation provides it with long hot summers which extend into the autumn. They grow 6 red wine varietals and 6 white wine varietals, including a number of indigenous grapes (more about them, here).
Liliac sold its first wine even more recently, in 2015. Liliac has two vineyards and a small winery in Transylvania, a little further north and west of LaCertA and slightly higher in elevation. Summers are cooler here and the diurnal temperatures are more wide ranging. This makes ideal conditions for white wines and indeed the focus of the winery is on its whites. However, the microclimates of the vineyard allow the cultivation of a variety of red grapes which produce exceptional wines (more about them, here).
Both wineries export to a number of countries but we are delighted to be able to be the first agency to bring their beautiful wines to British Columbia.
5 years later, while John was visiting Romania we had dinner at a Bucharest restaurant serving excellent wines. The conversation lingered around the quality of Romanian wines, the growing market and the boutique wineries that are bringing interesting, intriguing wines to consumers. Critical was the fact that these new wines are almost unknown outside Romania's borders.
It might help to provide a little history and perspective on our motivation. Romania is not new at producing wine. It has been producing wine for thousands of years and its wine was described by the Greeks and later the Romans. It also has all the physical attributes to make outstanding wines. Its position in Europe between the 43rd and the 48th parallels makes it ideal for growing wine. Its lands are fertile and well-watered. Romania is the 12th largest producer of wine in the world and 6th in Europe. However, most of its wine is consumed domestically.
Recently we have seen the emergence of a sector of the wine industry which seeks to distinguish itself through the quality of its products and its desire to make Romania once again a region whose wines are celebrated. Some of this focus has come from outside Romania. Foreign investors who have seen the quality of the natural environment have been leaders in establishing small estate wineries focused on the very best methods of cultivation, harvesting and winemaking. For those of you reading this from British Columbia this will seem a familiar story.
Our goal, as an agency is to bring high quality wines from boutique wineries that are focusing on quality rather than quantity. Wineries that produce exceptional, unique wines. So far, we have embarked on this journey with two producers: LaCertA and Liliac.
LaCertA Winery sold its first wine in 2011 and has won accolades for many of its wines. Its winery in an area called Dealu Mare (literally Big Hill) sits in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains surrounded by 82 hectares of vines. Its latitude, aspect and elevation provides it with long hot summers which extend into the autumn. They grow 6 red wine varietals and 6 white wine varietals, including a number of indigenous grapes (more about them, here).
Liliac sold its first wine even more recently, in 2015. Liliac has two vineyards and a small winery in Transylvania, a little further north and west of LaCertA and slightly higher in elevation. Summers are cooler here and the diurnal temperatures are more wide ranging. This makes ideal conditions for white wines and indeed the focus of the winery is on its whites. However, the microclimates of the vineyard allow the cultivation of a variety of red grapes which produce exceptional wines (more about them, here).
Both wineries export to a number of countries but we are delighted to be able to be the first agency to bring their beautiful wines to British Columbia.
Our Team
John Webster
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Alina Niculescu
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