Nemaipomenita poveste; nu degeaba are dl. Brown o reputatie deosebita in breasla (deosebita, adica intrucatva mai altfel...).
Mi-au placut in special doua din ultimele paragrafe (subl. mele): -- "This year, the National Bank of Romania will begin storing select vintages *next to the gold bars in its Bucharest vaults*. The first deposit will be 300 bottles of Grasa de Cotnari made in 1956, one of the last good years during communism." -- "He sells wine mostly to bars and restaurants at 14 lei ($6) a bottle and *serves it at central bank functions*. His vineyard employs 15 people at peak season, including his wife and son." Ce pacat ca dl. Brown n-a gasit de cuviinta sa se injoseasca cu niste ignobile intrebari de genul: -- Ale cui sunt sticlele alea de Grasa de Cotnari? -- Cine plateste si cat pentru depozitarea lor in tezaurul BNR (???)? -- Vinul din podgoria d-lui guvernator, ala care e servit pe la diversele reuniuni BNR -- e gratis pt. banca, un cadou din partea d-lui guvernator in semn de recunostinta pentru institutia care-i plateste de aproape doua decenii salariu (din bani publici)? Cunoscandu-l cat de cat pe dl. Isarescu, inclin sa cred ca asa stau lucrurile. -- Totusi, daca nu e asa, iar banca plateste vinul -- la ce pret e vandut (respectiv cumparat de banca), cand a avut loc licitatia prin care a fost aleasa aceasta oferta, cine a participat, unde poate fi consultat dosarul respectiv etc.? In rest, numai de bine, si -- iertata fie-mi malitiozitatea -- nu pot sa nu-mi reamintesc, poate a suta oara, maxima aproape geniala a amicului Comanescu (citez aproximativ): "In tara asta sunt mai multe ziare proaste decat jurnalisti buni." On 9/29/07, Vali <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > http://www.romanianewswatch.com/2007/09/ceausescus-rotten-vines-thrive-under.html > Friday, September 28, 2007 Ceausescu's Rotten Vines Thrive Under > Winemaking Central > Banker<http://www.romanianewswatch.com/2007/09/ceausescus-rotten-vines-thrive-under.html> > > By Adam Brown > > Sept. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Romanian central bank Governor Mugur Isarescu > spends most days controlling money supply. On weekends, he worries about > another liquid asset: wine. > > Isarescu has become one of Romania's newest vintners as he tries to revive > cramposie, a 2,000-year-old grape that all but died out under communist > dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. > > ``It's a race to rehabilitate a Romanian wine,'' says Isarescu, who last > year made 25,000 bottles of wine at vineyards in the southwestern Dragasani > region. ``In a lot of ways, this is every bit as mysterious as a good > monetary policy.'' > > Cultivating Romania's wine industry, the world's 12th- largest, may prove > tougher for Isarescu than it was to resuscitate the nation's economy during > his 17 years as head of the central bank. Vintners are struggling to recover > from decades of communist-era overproduction and win back the favored spot > they had in Paris restaurants in the 1920s. > > Winemakers such as Isarescu and neighbor Jakob Kripp say they are focusing > on quality rather than quantity. > > Ceausescu's agricultural managers insisted on high-yielding grapes and > expanded acreage by planting vines in ill-suited areas, such as hillsides. > > Since communism collapsed in 1989, the area planted with wine grapes has > dropped by 50 percent to about 440,800 acres, says Kripp, 47, who bottles > wine under the Prince Stirbey label. > > ``This is a healthy development,'' says Kripp, an Austrian aristocrat > whose Romanian wife inherited the vineyard. ``Now, Romania has a chance to > get back an international winemaking reputation. The conditions for making > wine are excellent.'' > > Unknown Abroad > > To fulfill that potential, vintners must upgrade bottling and > grape-crushing equipment, plant a wider variety of grapes and recruit > experts from abroad, wine critics say. > > Unlike the merlots, pinot grigios and sweet Tokajis made in neighboring > Hungary, Romania's wines are relatively unknown to international consumers. > > Romania made 6 million hectoliters (159 million gallons) of wine in 2006, > sending only 181,600, or 3 percent, abroad. Output is similar to 11th-ranked > Portugal's and a little more than a 10th of that in France, the world's > biggest winemaker, according to the United Nations' Food and Agricultural > Organization. > > ``I taste 5,000 wines a year, and it's been several years since I've > tasted anything Romanian,'' says Tom Cannavan, editor of Fine Expressions, a > wine magazine published in England. ``The Romanians have a lot of work to > do.'' > > Hugh Johnson, a London-based wine historian and co-author of ``The World > Atlas of Wine'' (Mitchell Beazley, 2001), blames Ceausescu for the faded > reputation of Romanian wines, which were appreciated throughout Europe in > the 1920s and 1930s. > > Parisian Fashion > > Grasa de Cotnari, a sweet white from the eastern Romanian region of > Moldavia, was referred to as ``Perle de la Moldavie,'' he says. It all but > disappeared during communism while Hungary's Tokaji survived and then > thrived. > > ``There was definitely a fashion for Romanian wine in Paris,'' Johnson > says. ``They were quite capable of making fine wine. Ceausescu totally > killed it off. It was total neglect.'' > > The regime chose to produce as much wine as possible from the cheapest > grapes, adding excessive amounts of sugar to increase alcohol content during > fermentation, Johnson says. Romania still has the climate, soil and > tradition for a revival. > > That tradition dates back more than 2000 years. Wine probably originated > in what is modern-day Georgia, east of Romania on the other side of the > Black Sea, according to the ``World Atlas of Wine.'' The vines spread south > and east, and by the time the Romans conquered what is now Romania in 106 > A.D., the local tribes were making wine. > > Collectible Vintage > > Romanian wine is getting better and people are paying more for it, says > Ovidiu Gheorghe, director of Romania's National Association of Vineyards and > Wines in the capital, Bucharest. > > The country's wine sales will rise to 450 million euros ($632 million) > this year, from 400 million euros last year, even as production drops 8 > percent to 5.5 million hectoliters, Gheorghe says. A drought has cut > output, though improved quality by increasing the natural sugar content of > the grapes. > > ``This year will be an exceptional year for wine quality --a year for > collectors,'' Gheorghe says. > > Isarescu, 58, has a place for such wine. > > This year, the National Bank of Romania will begin storing select vintages > next to the gold bars in its Bucharest vaults. The first deposit will be 300 > bottles of Grasa de Cotnari made in 1956, one of the last good years during > communism. > > Isarescu has headed the central bank since 1990, except for the year he > served as prime minister. He helped slash the annual inflation rate from 317 > percent in 1993 to 4 percent in June. > > He sells wine mostly to bars and restaurants at 14 lei ($6) a bottle and > serves it at central bank functions. His vineyard employs 15 people at peak > season, including his wife and son. > > ``The fame of these vineyards almost disappeared in the communist > period,'' Isarescu says. ``Now I'd like to be a part of their rebirth.'' > > To contact the reporter on this story: Adam Brown in Bucharest at > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > ---------------------------- > > Vali > * "Noble blood is an accident of fortune; noble actions are the chief mark > of greatness." (Carlo Goldoni) > **"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know > peace." (Jimi Hendrix)* > *Aboneaza-te la ngo_list <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ngo_list>: o > alternativa moderata (un pic) la [ngolist]* > * Please consider the environment - do you really need to print this > email? > * > >
