Băbească Neagră

Băbească Neagră is one of Romania's oldest red grapes, and its name means the black grandmother's grape. It grows mostly in the east of the country, in Moldavia, and the town of Nicorești is the source most often named on a label. It has been cultivated there for centuries, long enough that no one can say where it came from, and it is a parent of nothing and a child of nothing that anyone has identified.

It is a light red in every sense. The colour is pale, the tannin is low and the acidity is high, so the wine sits closer to a northern Italian red or a Loire Gamay than to anything from the Balkans. The fruit is sour cherry and redcurrant, with a peppery edge in a good year.

The grape's problem is that its bunches ripen unevenly, and the vine crops generously if it is allowed to. A high yield turns the wine thin and green rather than merely light. Growers who cut the crop and pick late get something fresh and drinkable that is the natural partner to the grilled and smoked food of the region.