Recently we bottled the vintage 2015 of our Merlot Rezerva „Ordinul de Malta“. This limited edition series was born in 2008, when the former Ambassador oft he Sovereign Order of Malta to Romania, Count Franz Alfred Hartig, being a great fan of Stirbey´s Merlot, asked us to create a limited edition of his favourite Romanian wine, with a label dedicated to the Order of Malta.
The Order of Malta is a sovereign entity, based in Rome, with aproximately 13.000 members – „knights“ and „dames“ – and a worldwide network of humanitarian, medical and social activities, with more than 100.000 enployees and volunteers working in the service of the poor and the sick.
In Romania, the Order of Malta started its activities immediately after revolution in 1989, bringing medical help, food and other kind of support into the country. Today, 80 employees, together with more than 1.000 volunteers, offer help to socially disadvataged communities, disabled children, elderly and other people in need all over the country.
Therefore, we were delighted about Ambassador Hartig´s proposal, and launched our Merlot Rezerva, bearing the coat of arms of the Order of Malta on ist label. For each bottle sold, we donate 10 RON to the Order´s relief corps in Romania – Serviciul de Ajutor Maltez. You may find more details about their activities under www.maltez.ro.
The wine is made of the best Merlot grapes from our Stirbey vineyard, fermented spontaneously, macerated for 4 weeks on the skins and then aged for two years in barriques of Romanian oak. Finally, it was bottled in a limited edition of 1.892 bottles.
Its character is strong and dense, but still elegant, made like a classic style Merlot, of dense flavours of dark fruit and a bouquet of spices. It may be paired with tasty meat, like roastbeef or venison, but also ripe cheese or dark chocolate mousse.
We invite you to discover this true gem from our range, and, in the same time, to support the charitable activities of the Order of Malta in Romania!
Ileana & Jakob Kripp