📍 Moldavian Hills

The Moldavian Hills (Dealurile Moldovei in Romanian) is the largest wine region of Romania, in the east of the country, between the Carpathians and the Prut river. It covers the hills and valleys of north-eastern and eastern Romania. The climate is continental: winters are cold, summers warm, autumn dry. Vineyards lie on south- and east-facing slopes.

The region includes well-known zones: Cotnari, Iași, Huși, Odobești, Panciu, Coteşti and others. Cotnari is especially famous for sweet white wines, drunk in the Middle Ages at the courts of the rulers of the Principality of Moldavia. Odobești and Panciu in the Vrancea area make light white and sparkling wines.

Local grapes include Fetească Albă (white) and Fetească Neagră (“black”), one of the best Romanian reds. Kövérszőlő (Grasă de Cotnari in Romanian, a delicate white) and Băbească Neagră are also grown. Nearby lie the zones of Bohotin, Nicorești, Colinele Vrancei, Dealu Bujorului and Iana, making both reds and whites.

For comparison with its neighbours: to the south lie the Hills of Muntenia and Oltenia, and to the west beyond the Carpathians Transylvania with cooler whites.