Barrels of delicious wine & and a beautiful garden

Truly sustainable tourism in villages like Copșa Mare and neighbouring Richiș supplements income from farming: It does not replace it. To sustain a way of life and the landscape here, visitors should spend their money with local producers like the Andrei family.
This lovely corner of southern Transylvania was once famous for its white wines, so famous in fact that even Jonathan Harker drank a bottle of it on his way to meet Count Dracula. The Andrei family have replanted a hectare of vines on their land above the village, much of it given over to Fetească Regală, otherwise known as Galbenă de Ardeal, a local white grape variety first cultivated on the steep slopes in these parts in the 1920s. They have barrels and barrels of this delicious wine in their cellar.

The family bought an old Saxon farmhouse in 2016, and have restored it with honest, good taste - no silly frills. There are four double bedrooms, all with their original wooden windows, doors and floors, giving them a wholesome feeling. But it is the garden that really takes your breath away - a riot of Philadelphus, honeysuckle, lilies, roses, and peonies.
This is a hardworking family affair, but they make it seem so effortless! Staying with the family is, quite simply, like going home as a child. Mum Gheorgeta makes the food, Dad Gheorghe makes the wine with the help of Alex and Ovidiu, their sons, who, being good lads, make the beds as well! The vegetables are all grown by the family. The accommodation is comfortable, spotlessly clean and unpretentious. And the garden is a haven of peace and beauty.
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