white grape · regional staple
Fetească Albă
Transylvania, Romania
Say it
feh·tyash·kuhal·buh
The 'ea' diphthong yields a palatal 'tyah' glide; 'scă' is 'shkuh'; the diacritical 'ă' in both words is a central schwa similar to the 'a' in 'sofa'
On the palate
green applepearwhite peachlemonelderflowerapricot
How you spot it blind: persistent meadow blossom and elderflower lift over crisp citrus freshness
The story
DNA profiling disproved its long-assumed synonymy with Hungary's Leányka and confirmed it as the parent of Feteasca Regală, which arose as a natural cross with Grasă de Cotnari discovered around 1920 in Daneș, Transylvania.
Where it lives
Romania (Transylvania, Moldavia, and all major wine regions) · Republic of Moldova · Ukraine
Shows up as
still whitesparklingsweet