VSN Winery

Viticola Sarica Niculițel (VSN) is the winery behind the "Caii de la Letea" brand and the most significant producer in Romania's Colinele Dobrogei wine region. With around 700 hectares of vineyards between the Danube and the Măcin Mountains in northern Dobrogea, today VSN is the strongest champion of Romanian Aligoté.

Map of Viticola Sarica Niculițel

Dobrogea's oldest vineyard

Vines have grown on the Sarica and Niculițel hills for thousands of years. Archaeologists have found objects decorated with vine motifs here, and the ancient Danube ports of Aegyssus (Tulcea), Noviodunum (Isaccea) and Arrubium (Măcin) were known for their wine trade.

In 1903 the area had around 5,800 hectares of vineyards producing some 305,000 hectolitres of wine, second only to Putna in the whole country. Few people remember today that northern Dobrogea was once one of the great centres of Romanian wine.

1958: a state farm and 1,100 hectares

The winery's modern history begins in 1958, with the founding of a state agricultural farm. Large-scale planting followed between 1962 and 1968, and a merger created a state enterprise (IAS) farming 1,100 hectares. Under Soviet influence, though, quantity mattered more than quality, and the politics of the era kept these wines from ever gaining international recognition.

The forgotten years

After privatisation in 1991, the vineyard went into decline. The winery sold mainly bulk wine, some of it under the Murfatlar brand, and the name Sarica became shorthand for cheap wine. In the early 1990s, Sarica Aligoté was sold around Bucharest in 1.5 and 2 litre plastic bottles. After half a century of totalitarian communist rule, Sarica and Niculițel had slipped into obscurity, despite thousands of years of history.

2015: insolvency and a daring bet

Things did not improve after the fall of communism, and the winery eventually went into insolvency.

In 2015, a passionate businessman named Marius Iliev decided to save the winery from disappearing and invested in rebuilding it.

What he found in those first years was deeply discouraging. The vineyard was in poor shape, and the winery was so poorly equipped that it could only make bulk wine.

His first decision was also the hardest. At the 2015 harvest the weaker grapes were set aside, and only four wines were made from what remained. Then came an even bolder bet.

A company in insolvency could not access EU funding, so Iliev built a modern winemaking facility with his own money, deliberately delaying the exit from insolvency. Only after another round of investment the following year did the company finally get back on its feet.

Just a year later, in 2016, the new winery's first whites and rosés were surprisingly well received by Romanian wine drinkers. The reds were held back to mature and only reached the market four years later.

Why "Caii de la Letea"?

The Caii de la Letea brand was also born in 2016. The name means "the horses of Letea" and comes from the wild horses of the Letea Forest, a nature reserve in the Danube Delta not far from the winery, between the Chilia and Sulina branches of the river. Around 2,000 horses live there freely today, a true symbol of freedom.

The parallel is hard to miss: the freedom of these wild horses is the same freedom Romanians fought for under the communist regime. Horses have become a powerful, almost identity-defining symbol for Romanians, which is why so many wine labels carry their image.

VSN makes three ranges dedicated to the wild horses of Letea. Volumul 1 evokes the vigour of horses running free, Volumul 2 the emotion of a chance encounter with this noble animal, and Princeps the harmony and dignified bearing the horses keep even in hard times.

What makes the Sarica Niculițel vineyard special?

The Sarica Niculițel vineyard owes its character to the meeting of the Danube, the Danube Delta, the forests to the south and the Măcin Mountains, remnants of an ancient Hercynian range. The average annual temperature is just above 10°C, and rainfall is around 440 mm a year.

The mostly north-facing slopes, the river and the forest all temper the summer heat. The grapes ripen slowly and keep their acidity and aromas. The soils, formed on loess, include chernozems, rendzinas and lithosols over limestone. They are well drained, alkaline and rich in calcium carbonate.

The local wind, which people here call Mareana, blows from the Black Sea for half the year and gives way to cold northerly winds for the other half. The air in the vineyard never stands still, which keeps the vines healthy and significantly reduces the need for pesticides.

Classification

VSN wines carry the protected designation of origin DOC Sarica Niculițel or the geographical indication IG Colinele Dobrogei. The winery also makes single-variety sparkling wines from Aligoté and Rară Neagră.

Aligoté: a kingdom on the Danube

Aligoté is a white grape from Burgundy, born of a cross between Pinot Noir and Gouais Blanc. Burgundy grows about 1,700 hectares of it. Romania now has more than 5,000 hectares, around 900 of them in Dobrogea, and 128 of those belong to VSN.

Romanian Aligoté

The grapes come from several plots, each with its own role. At Telița village the vines are trained in the Smart-Dyson system, with a high trunk and two cordons, a system used for the first time in Romania. Telița gives the finest Aligoté grapes, which go into the sparkling base wine and the Princeps Reserva.

In exceptional years, the Podiș village plot outdoes even Telița. There are also plots at Isaccea, on the edge of the forest, and at Tulcea, while the grapes for Volumul 1 and Volumul 2 come from Sarica.

One grape, six interpretations

From the fresh, lively Volumul 1 to the sparkling wine with six months on the lees, all the way to the Princeps Reserva with six months in oak and remarkable ageing potential, VSN's Aligoté shows many faces and holds some very pleasant surprises for fans of the grape.

Volumul 2 Aligoté 2022 won gold with 91 points at the London Wine Competition 2023. Princeps Reserva Aligoté 2021 won silver at the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 2024.

Fetească Neagră and Epiphanie

Fetească Neagră, Romania's most important red grape, finds a full, generous expression at Sarica Niculițel. At the top of the range sits Epiphanie, a breathtaking wine. It spends 12 months in new French oak barriques and at least 12 months in bottle before release. The 2019 vintage won gold medals at the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 2024 and Mundus Vini 2024.

Rară Neagră: the winery's future

Rară Neagră, also known in Romania as Băbească Neagră, is an old native grape that makes bright, elegant red wines with fine tannins, often compared to Pinot Noir. For VSN, Rară Neagră will play a central role in the years ahead. The results are already showing: at the Decanter World Wine Awards 2026, the Volumul 1 Rară Neagră rosé 2025 won silver with 90 points, and a 2024 Rară Neagră red took bronze.

Meeting Alin Lazărescu

We visited the winery and met Alin Lazărescu in person. An oenologist by training, he joined the team in 2017 in sales and went on to become general manager. He is a wonderful person, and his vision has driven the winery's remarkable growth in recent years.

Most of the team comes from Tulcea County. The wines are made by oenologists Adrian Dolghin and Ionuț Gădiuță, and the vineyards are managed by Sorin Ignat, with Paul Fulea as consultant.