This northeast Romanian variety produces fresh and relatively light, dry whites for early drinking.
MAIN SYNONYMS: Frâncușe, Frîncușă, Mustoasă or Mustoasă de Moldova, Poamă Creață, Poamă Franchie, Poama Muștei, Târțără, Vinoasă
VARIETIES COMMONLY MISTAKEN FOR FRANCUȘĂ: KREACA (Serbia), MUSTOASĂ DE MĂDERAT (Romania)
ORIGINS AND PARENTAGE
Frâncușă was cultivated in the areas of Cotnari, Odobești, Panciu and Huși in Romania's eastern region of Moldova well before phylloxera hit the region at the turn of the twentieth century. Two different types are distinguished morphologically: one in Odobești, with even-sized berries and one in Cotnari, called Târțără, with higher sugar content and irregular-size berries, due to coulure (Dejeu 2004).
Recent DNA parentage analysis has suggested that Francușă is one of the numerous progenies of GOUAIS BLANC, like FURMINT in Hungary (Boursiquor et al. 2004).
Frâncușă should not be confused with KREACA from Serbia, which is sometimes known as Frâncușă.
VITICULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS
Late ripening with compact bunches (Galet 2000).
WHERE IT'S GROWN AND WHAT ITS WINE TASTES LIKE
Today, Frâncușă is found only in the northern part of Romania's eatern Moldova region, where there were 352 ha (870 acres) in 2008. the Cotnari Winery is the main producer of varietal wines, which are typically crisp, light and direct, with flavours of lemon and green apple.