Wine Law

466 WINE LAW Viticulture developed at an accelerated pace in the interwar period, when Romania had no less than 220,000 hectares cultivated with vines, a trend which lasted until 1972, reaching 300,000 hectares. The installation of the communist regime in Romania affected wine production, and, after the fall of the communist regime in 1989, the grapevine area diminished even further due to the abolition of the Agricultural Production Cooperative 10 (CAP in Romanian) and state agricultural enterprises (including wine enterprises). In the last two decades, this economic field has been relaunched, with new plantations and outstanding quality wines, even if, unfortunately, most vineyards are small and very small, although many in number. I.4. Contemporary Period Currently, Romania’s total cultivated vine area is around 190,000 hectares, the fifth largest in the European Union, representing almost 6% of the total viticulture area in Europe. In terms of grape and wine production, Romania ranks sixth in the European Union with around 5 million hectoliters of wine annually – this quantity of wine varies depending on each year’s climatic new varieties and clonal selection, the ecology of the vine, the methods of cultivation and phytosanitary protection and those on the production of wines specific to the area. Regarding the establishment of the assortment and the improvement of the vine, the study of the varieties of fruiting vines and rootstocks, the scientific researches started in 1893, for the first time in Romania, at “ Pepiniera Pietroasa ” (Pietroasa Grapevine Nursery), where it was established, between 1893-1895, a collection that included, on an area of 10 ha, 737 varieties of grapes, coming from all continents, but especially from Europe. The research aimed at choosing the most valuable vine varieties for the restoration of vineyards destroyed by the phylloxera invasion and led to the establishment of first guidelines on their technological potential and how to adapt to growing conditions in Romania. In 1929, an experimental plantation was set up in Pietroasa, comprising 24 wine varieties (12 Romanian and 12 foreign), each being represented by 750 grafted stems on 10 rootstocks. Established under the direct guidance of Professor I.C. Teodorescu, this experimental plantation was the basis of subsequent studies in Romania and was the model used in the following period to create such new plantations. In 1939, a new collection of 15 grape table grapes grafted on 4 rootstocks was established in Pietroasa, which was studied until 1964. In 1993, on the 100 th anniversary of activity, the resort had a biological field with an area of 7 ha. The research, undertaken until 2010, led to the approval of new clones and varieties, as follows: Grasă de Cotnari 4 Pt. (1975); Băbească neagră 94 Pt. (1975); Muscat de Hamburg 4 Pt. (1980); Tămâioasă românească 36 Pt. (1982); Tămâioasă românească 5 Pt. (1989); Grasă de Cotnari 45 Pt. (1989); Muscat de Adda 5 Pt. (1995); Busuioacă de Bohotin 26 Pt. (2000); Fetească neagră 10 Pt. (2009); For details, see https://www.pietroasaveche.ro/istoric/. 10 CAP ( Cooperativa Agricola de Productie ) was the main form of organising agriculture during the communist regime in Romania.