Arte Forma 2002 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Recas, Romania
~ $10.00

I went to the Dekalb County Farmers Market last Friday and found a wonderful young lady from Romania, in the wine department who was excited to show me a few wines. She said, "This is a wine from Romania, where I am from. You should try it!". Now picture a young beautiful woman with an accent, asking you to try a different wine from her country, would you say no? I didn't either. It was $10.00 and we were having pizza that night so it sounded good to me. The womans name was Luciana Fota and she has a distribution company called Rhapsody Wines. This was one of her wines along with another four or five varietals in the same line. All of the wines had beautiful labels by Austrian artis, Gustav Klimt. (If you check out the connecting link, you will not be disapointed.)

Romania have been growing grapes for centuries like the rest of Europe but got a swift kick in the 1960's from government sponsorship and now are the 5th largest wine producing country in Europe. Unfortunately most of their wine is drunk locally and is difficult to find outside of the motherland. 3/4 of the wine is white, mainly from local varieties such as Feteasca Alba and Feteasca Regala. International varieties have become more popular recently and quality has increased. This wine is from Recas and is probably the best red wine I have had from Eastern Europe. I think that it's time to start exploring the east as these wines become more and more accessible in the west.

Color: Dark cherry red color with nice clean edges showing youth and ageability
Aroma: Interesting herbacious, rosemary aromas from the start, then opening up to damp earth, mocha, chocolate, and pencil shavings.
Palate: Light, smooth tannin and good acidity with cherry and cranberry flavors on the way down. The wine covers the palate evenly not leaving an empty space in the center.

Overall: Easy drinking, exceptional value, and goes great with pizza. B+