Grain by grain, the homeland is coming, step by step through the vineyards

The country is boiling, literally, and the workers of the land beat...the fields to ensure an optimal production. In this hot July I spent a day, from sunrise to sunset, in an area where fruit is as precious as gold. Grapes, cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, apples, grow and ripen on the banks of the Danube, in the south of Dobrogea, after which they find their way to wineries, canneries, and shops. From a distance the setting is idyllic, up close you notice that it is a lot of work, hard, exhausting.

Oana Belu, CEO Domeniile Ostrov, accompanied us through this short journey, from the winery to the vineyard, from the analysis laboratory to the orchard, from the office to the field, where she presented us, one by one, each step of the "production". An area of 1,200 hectares of vines is a challenge, even for specialists, even the Chilean oenologist who is in charge of Ostrov's wine production can confirm. Nothing is left to chance. Temperatures are computer-controlled in the winery, labs check every batch for leaks, drip irrigation keeps drought at bay, special machines pick the grapes at a pace unthinkable for manual labor. However, there are also people, sunburned, sweaty, with their troubles and hopes. The good news is that there is good production and we will not be short of wine, compote, jam or bad fruit.

For Ostrov wines, in 2024 there are significant increases on certain representative products, +40% increase for Pelin wine and +18.82% for the Naiada range, +73.33% for the Noe range. Firesc also increased its customer portfolio and exposure in large stores. If in 2020 the Ostrov Estates produced six million liters of wine, and in 2023 ten million liters were exceeded, this year production is expected to be at least 10% higher. But the costs are also reasonable, the monthly bill, just for electricity, amounts to over 300,000 lei. Regarding fruit, things are just as good, production is very good (over 100 hectares of orchards per fruit), 90% goes directly to hypermarkets, and 10% goes to the cannery. From the point of view of demand, the cherry is still "queen".

Future plans are clear. The investments will be especially in the wine cellar. A new bottling line, for still wines, with a bottling capacity of 4,500 bottles/hour. Storage spaces for wines, materials and raw materials will be modernized and there is also the acquisition of a bottling line for sparkling wines.

The wealth of the pantry is known during the summer, in this area it is good, unfortunately not everything goes as it should in the area of ​​land cultivation.