The family’s vineyards

In the year 1730, under the influence of and upon the recommendation of Count Karoly Sandor, Beltiug was colonized with Swabians brought from Germany (possibly from Austria also); The count acknowledged the wine growing potential of the hills around Beltiug and gave the Swabians lands on which they could practice grapevine growing exempting them them from tithe for a 2-year period. The areas planted with grapevines grew in the meantime, going up to a few hundred hectares in the Beltiug – Ratesti area towards the end of communism, this being one of the mains ources of income for the locals. After the 1989 revolution, the vineyards were no longer cultivated, so that, out of one large vineyard, only several small portions were left exploited individually by the families in the village.There was after that a “quiet” period, until, in 1999, Mr. Johann Brutler returned to the country from Germany, where he lived for 26 years, he established the first “new” plantation of Beltiug and created the Nachbil wines, which gradually arose the curiosity of the specialists and, obviously, our curiosity, the curiosity of the Hetei Family.Thus, in 2005 we replanted the aged vineyard that we had with noble varieties, and we decided to expand the surface planted with grapevine on the Hagau hill to 3.5 hectares, right above the cellars. To this surface another 4 hectares were subsequently added: 2 hectares in 2007 and another 2 hectares in 2011. The varieties of grapes grown here are: Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Feteasca Neagra (Black Maiden), Riesling de Rhin, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Furmint, Pinot Gris, Tamaioasa Romaneasca (Romanian Incensed Maiden) and Feteasca Regala (Royal Maiden). In the year 2011 we identified a different hillside area of Beltiug, on the New Hill, as the elders of the village call it (“Uj hegy” in Hungarian or “Neuwinberg” in “Beltiug Swabian”), an ideal lot of 7.5 hectares, which we planted with the red varieties: Pinot Noir (at the foot of the hill), Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon (towards the crown of the hill).The soils in our vineyards are made up of a very complex material of sands mixed with gravel, clay, and marl. Grape picking is achieved by hand in small crates, in order to avoid the crushing of the grapes and their oxidation.

The family’s cellar

The cellars dug in the Hagau Hill from Beltiug are unique in Romania and they represent irrefutable evidence of the fact that the people of these places have always cherished wine and that their life was divided between the household in the village and the wine vault on the hill. The 370 cellars represent a copy of the village and it was not arbitrarily that, when in 1862 the village houses burned during a devastating fire, that the entire population was moved, for the winter, into the hillside “houses”. The Hetei family has committed to make the cellars of Beltiug known all through the country and this is the reason why they are represented in the labels of our family’s wines.The family cellar was built 100 years ago, and it has recently been expanded by a further 22 meters, having a depth of 33 meters at present. Here the red wines and a selection of white wines, in particular Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, are aged in small Romanian and French oak barrels.Starting with the crop of 2011, the grapes were no longer turned into wine here, but rather in the new wine cellar in the village, where we have the benefit of modern technology, employing stainsless steel recipients and temperature control. The family and together with the entire team, we wish to create wines that can bring prestige to Beltiug.