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The curious traveller will be well rewarded when crossing the threshold of the company and, after a trip back in time in the castle, he will be able to admire the unique panorama of the thousands of hectares of vineyard surrounding the estate.
The Jidvei wines draw their sap from the Târnave vineyard, which stretches proudly between the rivers Târnava Mică and Târnava Mare. Located
at 50 km from Alba Iulia, the spiritual capital city
of Romania, and 150 km away from the old Dacian fortress Sarmizegetusa, the Târnave vineyard is the heart of a place steeped in history and stories, some real, other imaginary, that lend their charm to the region of Transylvania.
White varieties such as Fetească Regală, Italian Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Fetească Albă, Chardonnay, Muscat Ottonel and others found favourable conditions in the Jidvei vineyard. With climate change, it became possible to plant black grape varieties in the vineyard. Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or Syrah grapes turn in early autumn into delightful and seducing rosé wines.
With an area of almost 2,500 hectares, Jidvei has the largest vineyard plantation in Romania and
the largest single-owner vineyard in Europe. The pedoclimatic conditions combine various region- specific features that explain the millennial growing of vine and the quality of the Târnave wines. Nature rewards the skill of the winemakers with the most precious gift of a special kind of autumn, which brings moderate temperatures, sometimes persistent mists or sunny days in the valleys of the Târnave rivers, favouring thus the accumulation
of sugars and aromas and ensuring that acidity remains within the limits of a harmonious balance. Besides the skill of the people, the Jidvei estate
benefits from such divine gifts that are very important to ensure that not just a good job, but a great job is done.
The tired traveller can stop to taste some wine in the famous cellars of the estate. Jidvei has 3 wine cellars, with an impressive capacity of more than 270,000 hectolitres. Arriving either at the Jidvei winery, or in Blaj or Bălcaciu, the grapes will become, thanks to the oenologist’s art, wines preserving the vocation of the wine region (le terroir viticole).
The Jidvei Winery, commissioned in 1974, is
the largest winery of the company. Since 1999, tradition has been backed up with the advantages of modern technologies. The investments in this unit have been directed towards optimising the technological processes with a view to ensuring the quality and specificity of the Jidvei wines.
Once in the labyrinth of rooms, we first discover vessels in which the ‘living’ product is in permanent transformation. Near them, in larger wooden containers of 5000-10000 litres, wines are aging that resulted from the most popular white grape varieties: Traminer, Pinot Gris or Fetească Albă. There are also stainless steel tanks where wines are kept in order to remain fruity, fresh and typical of the varieties that produced them. In another room, an automated flow monitoring system tracks the full and empty pots and the wine route to the bottling stage.
The Jidvei company is not only a wine producer, it is also an active member of the community that engages in social, cultural and humanitarian projects whereby it promotes an organisational culture that remains close to the inhabitants
of the region and to the local and national traditions and customs.
On the occasion of the first Centenary of Greater Romania, Jidvei paid tribute to all the heroes of the national unification by launching the Vinul Unirii wine, an anniversary product that celebrates the Union of all Romanians. Throughout 2018, Jidvei conducted the ‘Great Union Moment’ campaign, which included a series of events and thematic contests grouped into several categories: Great Union Words, Great Union Art and Great Union Music.
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