Publication of a communication of approval of a standard amendment to the product specification for a name in the wine sector referred to in Article 17(2) and (3) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/33

(2021/C 439/08)

This communication is published in accordance with Article 17(5) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/33 (1).

COMMUNICATION OF A STANDARD AMENDMENT MODIFYING THE SINGLE DOCUMENT

‘Drăgăşani’

PDO-RO-A0286-AM01

Date of communication: 9 August 2021

DESCRIPTION OF AND REASONS FOR THE APPROVED AMENDMENT

1. Inclusion of a new wine grape variety as a main variety

The Romanian wine grape variety Alutus has been added to the list of authorised varieties as a main variety.

As a result, Chapter 4 of the specification and sections 5 and 7 of the single document have been amended.

Alutus is a Romanian variety created at the Drăgășani Research Station for Viticulture and Vinification and its introduction into cultivation gives the demarcated area a greater potential for capitalizing on the Drăgășani area’s viticultural specificity in the form of quality wines.

The Research Station created and monitored the progress of the Alutus variety which, under the typical conditions of the Drăgășani area, is sufficiently adaptable to achieve PDO quality. As a Romanian variety that joins other varieties grown in this area, with good results in the production of wines with higher quality characteristics, Alutus adds to the reputation of the Drăgășani PDO by diversifying the range and expressing the aromatic complexity of the valuable national varieties.

Areas with skeletal soil showcase the Alutus variety, which has made use of the very good soil conditions to produce grapes that make full, structured wines with strong aromas of forest fruit and prunes, bright red in colour, full-bodied, extractive and with temperate astringency.

2. Amendment to wine yield to reflect an increase thereof

The wine yield has been increased to a level not exceeding 14 000 kg/ha at full maturity at harvest of the grapes and the maximum value of 112 hl/ha for the wine obtained.

As a result, Chapters 5 and 6 of the specification and section 5 of the single document have been amended.

The requested change in wine productivity per hectare is needed for the Drăgășani PDO area due to production progress obtained in recent years, an increase in production for grapes at full maturity at harvest and a later harvest due to changes in new vineyard structures, due to the biotic factor (clonal structure, rootstock) and the oenological factor (use of new wine-making technologies).

As a result of extensive reconversion and restructuring projects in the area, there has been a significant change in the density of vineyards. Whereas, before, the grubbed-up vineyards had a density of between 2 800 and 3 200 plants per hectare, newly-established plantations have a density of more than 4 545 plants per hectare, with significant increases in the density of young vineyards compared to the density of previous plantations, which has also led to significant increases in grape production.

SINGLE DOCUMENT

1. Name(s)

Drăgăşani

2. Geographical indication type:

PDO - Protected Designation of Origin

3. Categories of grapevine products

1. Wine

4. Description of the wine(s)

1. Analytical and organoleptic characteristics

CONCISE TEXTUAL DESCRIPTION

White/rosé wines

They have fresh floral aromas and are straw yellow in colour with greenish-yellow, pale salmon/pale pink shades, aromas of vanilla, ripening grapes, fresh butter, intense elderflower, vine flowers, acacia flowers, honey, nutmeg. In terms of taste, these wines have a slight taste of almond, with freshness, full-bodiedness and a prolonged aftertaste. The vast majority of white wines are regarded as light, highly acidic wines. Acidic, lively, fruity taste, with personality, balance, very often with the aroma of well-ripened fruit.

GENERAL ANALYTICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Maximum total alcoholic strength (in % volume): 15,00 Minimum actual alcoholic strength (in % volume): 11,00 Minimum total acidity: 3,5 in grams per litre expressed as tartaric acid Maximum volatile acidity (in milliequivalents per litre): 18 Maximum total sulphur dioxide (in milligrams per litre) 200

2. Analytical and organoleptic characteristics

CONCISE TEXTUAL DESCRIPTION

Red wines

Taste - robust tannic structure, complex, grassy taste, aromas of forest fruit, currants and spices, as well as aromas of ripe forest fruit, prunes and bitter cherries.

Dark ruby red, moderately intense ruby red, garnet red, intense, clear and bright.

Taste - velvety wines with well-integrated acidity, with a prolonged, balanced, rounded aftertaste.

GENERAL ANALYTICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Maximum total alcoholic strength (in % volume): 15,00 Minimum actual alcoholic strength (in % volume): 12,00 Minimum total acidity: 3,5 in grams per litre expressed as tartaric acid Maximum volatile acidity (in milliequivalents per litre): 20 Maximum total sulphur dioxide (in milligrams per litre) 150

5. Wine-making practices

5.1. Specific oenological practices

1. Oenological practices

Relevant restriction on making the wines

The sweetening of ‘Drăgăşani’ PDO wines is prohibited.

2. Characteristics and cultural practices

Cultivation practices

In the newly established vineyards the density is between: 4 132 and 5 500 plants per hectare. In other vineyards the minimum accepted density is: 3 200 plants per hectare.

The crop system is unprotected or semi-protected, trained with the recommended Guyot stem-training system, single or bilateral cordon, pruning with regular replacement. The pruning system used will be long or mixed with a yield of 9-13 bunches/mp.

The crops will be fertilised using chemical fertilisers at moderate doses in accordance with the physico-chemical characteristics of the soil (agrochemical mapping) by preserving an optimum N, P, K ratio, which plays an important role in the formation of the various crop components (sugars, acidity, anthocyanin pigments, aromas).

5.2. Maximum yields

1. at full ripeness of the harvest, Crâmpoșie selecționată 14 000 kilograms of grapes per hectare

2. at full ripeness of the harvest, Fetească regală, Riesling italian, Sauvignon, Pinot gris, Chardonnay 12 000 kilograms of grapes per hectare

3. at full ripeness of the harvest, Tămâioasă românească, Muscat Ottonel, Negru de Drăgășani 12 000 kilograms of grapes per hectare

4. at full ripeness of the harvest, Novac, Burgund mare, Merlot, Pinot noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Fetească neagră, Alutus 10 000 kilograms of grapes per hectare

5. at full ripeness of the harvest, Crâmpoșie selecționată 112 hectolitres per hectare

6. at full ripeness of the harvest, Fetească regală, Riesling italian, Sauvignon, Pinot gris, Chardonnay 96 hectolitres per hectare

7. at full ripeness of the harvest, Tămâioasă românească, Muscat Ottonel, Negru de Drăgășani 96 hectolitres per hectare

8. at full ripeness of the harvest, Novac, Burgund mare, Merlot, Pinot noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Fetească neagră, Alutus 75 hectolitres per hectare

6. Demarcated geographical area

Vâlcea County:

— Municipality of Drăgăşani - component localities of Drăgăşani, Zărneni, Zlătărei, Valea Caselor;

— Commune of Ştefăneşti - villages of Dobruşa, Condoieşti, Şerbăneşti, Ştefăneşti;

— Commune of Şuteşti - villages of Racu, Izvoraşu, Şuteşti, Mitrofani, Verdea, Mazili, Boroşeşti;

— Commune of Prundeni - villages of Prundeni, Călina, Zăvideni;

— Commune of Orleşti - villages of Orleşti, Silea, Scaioşi, Procopoaia;

— Commune of Creţeni - villages of Creţeni, Mreneşti, Streminoasa, Izvoru;

— Commune of Guşoeni - villages of Guşoeni, Măgureni, Spârleni, Guşoianca, Burdăleşti;

— Commune of Lungeşti - villages of Lungeşti, Carcadieşti, Fumureni, Stăneşti-Lunca.

Olt County:

— Commune of Cârlogani, villages of Cârlogani, Cepari;

— Commune of Strejeşti, villages of Strejeştii de Sus, Colibaşi;

— Commune of Pleşoiu, village of Schitu din Deal.

The following single-vineyard designations may be added to the ‘DRĂGĂŞANI’ controlled designation of origin: DEALUL OLT, DOBRUŞA, ŞUTEŞTI, MITROFANI, CĂLINA, PRUNDENI, ZĂVIDENI, ORLEŞTI, GUŞOENI, MĂGURENI, SPÂRLENI.

7. Main wine grape variety(ies)

Alutus N

Burgund Mare N - Grosser burgunder, Grossburgunder, Blaufrankisch, Kekfrankos, Frankovka, Limberger

Cabernet Sauvignon N - Petit Vidure, Bourdeos tinto

Chardonnay B - Gentil blanc, Pinot blanc Chardonnay

Crâmpoşie selecţionată B

Fetească neagră N - Schwarze Mädchentraube, Poama fetei neagră, Păsărească neagră, Coada rândunicii

Fetească regală B - Königliche Mädchentraube, Königsast, Ktralyleanka, Dănăşană, Galbenă de Ardeal

Merlot N - Bigney rouge

Muscat Ottonel B - Muscat Ottonel blanc

Negru de Drăgăşani N

Novac N

Pinot Gris G - Affumé, Grau Burgunder, Grauburgunder, Grauer Mönch, Pinot cendré, Pinot Grigio, Ruländer

Pinot Noir N - Blauer Spätburgunder, Burgund mic, Burgunder roter, Klävner, Morillon Noir

Riesling italian B - Olasz Riesling, Olaszriesling, Welschriesling

Sauvignon B - Sauvignon verde

Syrah N - Shiraz, Petit Syrah

Tămâioasă românească B - Rumänische Weihrauchtraube, Tamianka

8. Description of the link(s)

Link with the demarcated area

The Drăgășani vineyard stretches between Subcarpaţii Getici in the North and Campia Romana in the South and South-East, between 44°30 ′ -44°55 ′ North and 23°55 ′ -24°15 ′ East. The vineyards stretch for a length of approximately 50 km between the municipalities of Strejești in the South and Ionești in the North, the width varying to the East-West over a distance of about 30 km.

Administration - the vineyards are located in the counties of Vâlcea and Olt.

The terrain is characterised by peaks between rivers with steep slopes, running parallel to the Olt river and facing North to South. The altitude of the vineyard hills increases from South (Oporelu 193 m) to North (Scundu 463 m), which gives rise to different exposures favourable to vine cultivation.

Lithology - the bedrock is generally formed of alternating clay, marlstone and tertiary sand on the slopes and ridges of the hills and silt of different textures in the lowlands of the Olt.

Soils - the soils on the platform are characterised by the presence of white luvisols, planosols and brown luvisolic (podzolic) soils. Brown illuvial clay soils formed on the narrow, well drained, upper slopes and terraces. There are brown and eu-mezobasic soils and regosols on the slopes. Reddish brown soils appear on the terraces on the southern part of the vineyard.

The dominant hydrographical system is the river Olt, the main collector which receives excess rainfall from the hills in the valleys that separate them.

The climate is temperate continental, with cold winters and hot summers, but with more moderate Eastern European extremes, with some Mediterranean influences. The average annual temperature (11,3 °C), moderate rainfall (642 mm per year) and sunshine during the growing season (1520 hours) creates climate conditions favourable to vine growing with a direct influence on the quality of the harvest. The wines obtained from the single vineyards of Deal Olt, Dobrușa, Șutești, Mitrofani, Călina, Prundeni, Orlești and Gușoeni are recognisable by the exceptional quality of the aromatic wines obtained from the Tămâioasă românească and Sauvignon varieties. There are also notable red wines of the Pinot noir variety.

Dominant soils: luvisols and brown luvisolic soils, together with the thermal conditions, permit and promote the cultivation of white wine varieties, in particular: Sauvignon, Crâmpoşie selecţionată, Tămâioasă românească, and red wine varieties: Negru de Drăgăşani, Novac and Pinot noir.

All the soil and climate conditions favour the cultivation of the vine and the creation of special quality wines with typical characteristics of the Drăgășani area. The production of grapes using couples, vinifera/rootstocks that are suitably located, according to the ‘purpose’ of the land, can have remarkable results on the production of wines with a controlled designation of origin.

Climbing to altitudes exceeding 400 m, the vineyards are located on brown and reddish brown forest soils, some podzolic soils, rich in limestone and situated on alluvial gravel.

The Drăgășani vineyard has deep roots in the past, dating from the Daco-Getae period, some 2 000 years ago. Legend has it that the ‘Braghină’ variety was named after the daughter of Burebista and the ‘Gordan’ variety was named after a brave Dacian warrior whose death was at that time contentious because during the battle in which he lost his life, he had also drunk several glasses of wine.

There are documents relating to the Drăgășani vines that date back to the 16th and 17th centuries, during the reign of Michael the Brave, who made numerous donations to the monasteries that owned vineyards.

Before the outbreak of phylloxera, the base varieties in Drăgășani were Crâmpoșie, Braghină and Gordan to which Tămâioasă românească was added. The old Drăgășani wines did not have a very high alcohol content, around 10 % vol., and were well known for the freshness lent by the carbon dioxide typical of wines with incomplete fermentation, as well as a slightly baked taste.

These wines were made from grapes harvested late, after a long and mild fermentation at low temperatures, and they kept their acidity until early spring.

The Drăgășani vineyard has not remained anchored in the past: the new varieties and the new cultivation and winemaking technologies mean that it is very well regarded in the present day.

9. Essential further conditions (packaging, labelling, other requirements)

Marketing conditions

Legal framework

In national legislation

Type of further condition

Additional provisions relating to labelling

Description of the condition

For ‘Drăgășani’ PDO wines, the labelling must show the type of wine, according to its sugar content (dry, semi-dry, semi-sweet, sweet).

Link to the product specification

https://www.onvpv.ro/sites/default/files/caiet_de_sarcini_doc_dragasani_modf_cf_cererii_1353_14.07.2020_no_track_changes.pdf

(1) OJ L 9, 11.1.2019, p. 2.