🍇 Fetească

Fetească is the shared name of three different Romanian grape varieties: Fetească Albă, Fetească Regală and Fetească Neagră. There is no single variety called Fetească: in the VIVC catalogue each of the three has its own passport. The name means “maiden grape”, an image echoed in synonyms such as Hungarian Leányka or German Mädchentraube.

Together they are one of the pillars of Romanian viticulture. According to the OIV, in 2015 Fetească Regală covered 13,000 ha in Romania, or 6.8% of the vineyard area — more than any other variety. Fetească Albă had 12,000 ha (6.3%) and Fetească Neagră 3,000 ha (1.6%). Altogether, more than 28,000 ha out of 191,000.

The varieties differ in more than berry colour. Fetească Albă is an old white variety; in Moldova it ranks first among local varieties. Fetească Regală is its offspring: according to VIVC DNA markers, it descends from Fetească Albă and Francuse. Fetească Neagră, despite its name, is not a red form of the white grape: it is a separate variety whose parents the catalogue does not know.

Their wines differ too. Fetească Albă and Regală make fresh white wines, including sparkling ones; in the Transylvanian appellation Târnave it is Regală that defines the character of the wines. Fetească Neagră gives garnet-red wines with aromas of dried plum, blackcurrant and cinnamon — that is how the Dealu Mare appellation dossier describes them.

Why it matters to you. Look at the second word on the label: Albă means a white wine, Regală is also white but from a different variety, and Neagră is red. In Hungary these varieties are written as Leányka, Királyleányka and Fekete leányka. If a variety is named on a wine from the EU, it makes up at least 85% of what is in the bottle.