Legatul Bucovina, this weekend at the DOC Lechința vineyard

During the second weekend of November, 14 Bukovinian confreres, accompanied by their families, were guests of the elegant hotel complex “Jelna Resort & SPA” ****. During the two evenings spent here, the resort’s restaurant offered us selected tasting menus, paired with wines from the Jelna Wine Cellar, from the “Dealu Negru” and “Navicella” ranges. On the last evening, the members participated in an exclusive tasting, presented by Ciprian Macavei -the winery’s promoter-, with the wines “Priponit 1832” and “1264, ultra limited edition” (less than 2000 bottled bottles, offered for tasting only in the winery), both creations of oenologist Darius Pripon. On Saturday, in between two rounds at the resort’s spa, we took a short excursion in the area. The first sight we visited was the recently restored Teleki Castle in Posmuș, built in the 18th century in Baroque style at the wish of the “grof” Pal Teleki and his wife Borbala Haller Hallerkeo. In the courtyard of the castle there is a 25 meters high oak tree, planted in 1406, the second oldest and largest in Romania, after the oak tree from Cajvana (1241). We then stopped at the “Lechburg Winery – In Vino Etica”, an interesting winery producing certified organic wines. The winery’s philosophy aims to balance tradition with technological progress. Thus, the concrete tanks from the old IAS Lechința have been reclaimed and, with renewed technological input, symbolize the integration of old and new. Owners Cristiano and Melissa Guarato presented 8 wines – including two niche single-varietal wines of the Golden Muscat and Neuburger varieties – accompanied by local cheeses. Our mini trip ended with a visit to the municipality of Bistrița. We had lunch at the “Conacul Verde”, a cozy restaurant opened in the former “Vila Tiți”, a neo-Romanesque style building that belonged to Letizia Blaga – Lucian Blaga’s sister – and where the great poet and philosopher conceived the “Cosmogonic Trilogy”. The visit to Bistrița was crowned by the admiration of an architectural jewel: the “Evangelical Church of Augustan Confession”, a monument representative of the transition from the Gothic to the Renaissance style, and by the ascent to the Church Tower, the highest medieval tower in Romania (75 meters). Eques Dragoș Danubianu Legat I. Bucovina