Interview with the Vampire’s winemaker
BY MARTIN VENGADESANIT'S blood-red, it's good drinking, and it comes from Romania in a bottle labelled Vampire. It sounds like a cheap marketing gimmick, but wines from Romania’s Recas region have been genuinely making a name for themselves within the industry. And I’m not just talking about the fact that Vampire was among the most popular budget wines in the United States in the month leading up to the ghostly festival of Halloween (October).
Over the last decade or so, Vampire’s Pinot Noir alone has picked up a bronze medal at the San Francisco International Wine Competition and a silver medal at Western Canada Wine awards and, as I found out at a dinner at the KL’s Top Hat Restaurant last month, it isn’t even the favourite wine of the people behind Vampire – Cramele Recas commercial director Philip Cox and his wife, export director Elvira Cox.
Now, while the uninitiated may scoff, wine lovers will know that aside from the products of the “mainstream” wine-producing nations, be they Old World (France & Italy) or New (United States & Australia), there are all kinds of pleasant surprises to be had from far-flung regions such as Chile’s Casablanca and South Africa’s Paarl.
I won’t exaggerate and attempt to portray Vampire as the nectar of the gods. It isn’t. But it is certainly worth investigating as an interesting alternative in the budget range (Vampire wines are priced from RM28.90 to RM69.90), and what’s more Vampire isn’t the only intriguing brand that Cramele Recas and its Malaysian partner, Enhance Worldwide, will be bringing to Malaysia. Keep an eye out for Terra Dacica, Schwaben Wein and Laura.
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A sip of Vampire, anyone? |
“Wines are really very individual and very subjective, but Vampire is easy to drink, it’s very fruity, it’s got good body, and perhaps most importantly, it’s different.” he enthused. “The important thing is that people are open-minded when they try it. A lot of people are prejudiced about wines, but a true wine-lover will at least want to give it a try. I encourage people to try wines from anywhere, including other East-European countries as well as places likes Jordan and the Ukraine.”
While Romania isn’t known as one of the mainstream wine producing regions, it has a history of wine-making that stretches back many centuries.
“Some Romanian wines are very old. There are some existing vineyards that are as old as 200 years,” explained Elvira, a native of Bucharest, “and there is the story of a Dacian (forerunners of the modern Romanians) king who was forced to destroy his vineyard because other kings were invading his country for the wine!”
The reputation of Romanian wine suffered after World War II.
“In the 1940s, these vineyards were nationalised” continued Elvira. “During the state years, the wine was going to Russians, and the quality suffered because of mass production, which deemed volume to be more important than quality. It was only in the 1990s that the vineyards were privatised again. Austrian and Germany investors came into Romania and reinvigorated the wine-making business with modern methods. In fact, Romania is now the ninth largest wine-producing nation in the world!”
Ironically, although both the Vampire label and the Transylvania Imports tag play on the legend of the infamous vampire, Count Dracula of Transylvania, most of the wine actually hails from the Banat region in Western Romania.
After initially working for others, Philip and Elvira decided to take the plunge and actually purchase a vineyard.
“The early days were chaotic” recalled Elvira. “We often had to work with no electricity. At first, we rented the vineyards but in 2000, we bought the vineyard and now we have 650 hectares and we own all of it. All our wine is produced from own grapes. Philip in is charge of the technical side as he has the know-how, and I handle a lot of the financial aspects of the business.”
It certainly seems to be a rewarding profession as far as the Cox’s are concerned.
“I think, aside from the business side of it, you really have to a wine lover”, said Philip “You have to be passionate about it. My family owned wine shops and I worked there during university breaks when I was younger, and that was when I got interested in it. This is much more than making tyres. The technical aspect is important. There are probably a lot of wines that could be great but are not made correctly even in France. What we have is incorporate New World technology into what is essentially an Old World wine region. We reduced the volume of production to ensue the quality of each bottle.
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Philip Cox, a winemaker transplanted from Bristol to Romania. |
“We have also been lucky with the good sales idea in the US because in Romania, we don’t use the Vampire label to sell it. In the US, it was red wine from the country of Dracula ? even my name, Elvira, which is the name of a famous TV ‘vampire’ in America. We have even introduced Vampire vodka, which is cranberry-flavoured and bright red in colour.”
“In Romania, everybody drinks wine. It’s part of the culture. It goes with our food. Of course the standard rules apply, which is red wine for barbecue, savouries and red meats, and white wine for fish. In Romania, there are traditional dishes like banat goulash (like Hungarian goulash but without such a spicy sauce) and sarmale (minced meat in rolled cabbage leaves and herbs) that are also often accompanied by wine.”
For those of you who are intrigued by the prospect of sampling Romanian wine, Elvira did have a special hint.
“I really like my Cabernet Sauvignon reserve, which is extra-strong. Many of our wines have won awards at international competitions, but that is my particular favourite.”
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