Some days ago Iulia expressed a wish for some red wine and soon after we were talking about the possibility of a wine box for Cluj.
During my first visit to Romania (7 years ago… wow!) I got to taste a simple and nice home made red wine. The host wanted to impress me and refused to give me water, only wine (it was around Christmas time) and so I also got drunk for the first time in my life. However after moving here I was disappointed by what I found in supermarkets. Even though there is a very large variety of Romanian wines (GO local!) most of the wines I tasted had an unpleasant after taste due to what seems to be an excess use of sulphates.
Since then I’ve tasted some other simple and nice home-made wines. I’ve tasted some more elaborate and very nice home made wines, red and white. I’ve tasted a variety of Tuica brews, but I’m not a fan. I’ve made and enjoyed my own home made Visinata (Tuica put to good use). I’ve tasted very nice black currant wine … and I know there is more stuff out there … home made, local, delicious. I know that it is possible to find these things by asking people who know people, some travelling may be required to get it … its out there … but it takes some effort to get your hands on it.
That’s where a box could be useful. I can imagine a monthly box that has a few bottles of wine in it with some seasonal specials and a menu of extras that members can order to meet their needs. However I am confident that there isn’t one producer out there who could provide this. I believe it would take an integration of numerous producers to create a box offering that recurring, stable and useful. It would take collaboration. Collaboration is not something that we’ve seen yet amongst producers (though we encourage ןא every chance we get).
There is, however, another kind of collaboration, which I have envisioned and occassionaly mentioned, and may be suitable for an experimental wine box. It is a collaboration based on an organizer who collectes produce from numerous producers, integrates the produce into a box servic and delivers boxes directly to members.
This organizer approach first came to me when I discovered how many elderly people there are in our village (and in my other villages) who grow relatively small gardens with excellent produce, who are incapable of organizing and delivering a box to the city. I imagined a person who was a good organizer, with a car who could collect produce from these small producers, provide them with a reliable and consistent income, and integrate their produce into a box service. That hasn’t happened yet.
Is there someone out there who is interested in being an integrator for a wine box (for either Cluj or Bucharest)? If you are such a person or know someone who could be such a person, please connect with us.
If you are interested in receiving a wine-box, please take a minute to fill out this form and let us know about your wishes: