📍 Ștefănești

Ștefănești is a wine zone in Romania, in Argeș County, near the city of Pitești, on the southern slopes of the Carpathians. It belongs to the larger Hills of Muntenia and Oltenia region and has its own protected designation of origin. The hills are low, the climate moderately continental, summers warm and autumn long and often sunny.

The district is small but has an old winemaking tradition. White wines are based on Fetească Regală, a Romanian grape from a cross of Fetească Albă and Grasă de Cotnari that gives aromatic wines with a floral note. Among reds Cabernet Sauvignon grows. Other grapes are grown too, and wines are both dry and off-dry.

Estates in the zone are small, some of them family-run. Wines go mostly to the domestic market and to restaurants in Pitești. The zone lies next to the mountains, so nights are colder than on the plain.

For comparison with its neighbours: to the east lies Dealu Mare, one of the best-known zones of Romania with red wines, to the west Drăgășani and Segarcea, and to the north the Carpathian mountains.